Cleveland Museum of Art

Deity

Date

1100s

Medium

Magnolia wood with traces of color

Culture

Japan, Heian period (794–1185)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This unidentified sculpture represents a mature male figure with a long beard. His robes, crown-like head ornament, and hair arranged into a topknot resemble the attire and styling of members of the heavenly realm— tenbu in Japanese—of the Buddhist cosmos. The comparatively simple design, along with carving marks purposely left by the sculptor throughout the surface tend to be associated with sculptures of kami , deities venerated at shrines, or jinja .

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.