Keywords: Chinese - Buddha - Walters 259.jpg Carved from twelve joined pieces of wood covered with five layers of lacquer and then painted this sculpture is the oldest known surviving Chinese example of its type In the branch of Buddhism known as the Great Vehicle the historical Buddha Sakyamuni is one among many Enlightened Ones Buddhas enlightened in other realms preside over paradises or stand for abstract concepts This sculpture probably depicts Amitabha the cosmic Buddha who presides over the Western Paradise - a place where Buddhists of the period hoped to be reborn ca 590 wood with painted lacquer cm 105 4 71 8 accession number 25 9 11606 Yamanaka Co New York Henry Walters city Baltimore Walters Art Museum Henry Walters Acquired by Henry Walters 1920 place of origin China Walters Art Museum license Art of China in the Walters Art Museum Media contributed by the Walters Art Museum needs category review Statues of the Buddha from China Statues of the Buddha in the United States |