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Buddha Shakyamuni

Photo: Susan A. Cole

Buddha Shakyamuni

late 8th to early 9th century

Kashmir

Indian

In dharmachakra mudra, both hands form circles with the thumb and forefinger and then link together. The gesture represents setting in motion the turning of the wheel of dharma, translatable in this context as the Buddhist teachings or cosmic law. It also references Buddha Shakyamuni’s first sermon at Sarnath in eastern India. This gesture came to signify the moment that Buddha first preached and the passing on of spiritual teaching in general.
Copper alloy with silver and copper
Height: 15 3/16 in. (38.6cm)
Floyd A. Naramore Memorial Purchase Fund
74.70
Photo: Susan A. Cole
location
Now on view at the Asian Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Indian Buddhist Sculpture, Feb. 3 - Aug. 20, 1990.

Tokyo, Japan, Suntory Museum of Art, Luminous Jewels: Masterpieces of Asian Art From the Seattle Art Museum, July 25 - Sept. 6, 2009 (Kobe, Japan, Kobe City Museum, Sept. 19 - Dec. 6, 2009; Kofu, Japan, Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art, Dec. 23, 2009 - Feb. 28, 2010; Atami, Japan, MOA Museum of Art, Mar. 13 - May 9, 2010; Fukuoka, Japan, Fukuoka Art Museum, May 23 - July 19, 2010).

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Luminous: The Art of Asia, Oct. 13, 2011 - Jan. 8, 2012.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.
Published ReferencesKawai, Masatomo, Yasuhiro Nishioka, Yukiko Sirahara, editors, "Luminous Jewels: Masterpieces of Asian Art From the Seattle Art Museum", 2009, The Yomiuri Shimbun, catalogue number 97.

Foong, Ping, Xiaojin Wu, and Darielle Mason. "An Asian Art Museum Transformed." Orientations vol. 51, no. 3 (May/June 2020): pp. 58-59, reproduced figs. 18 (installation view), 19.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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