Images(4)

Mourning Bird-man (karura)

Dateearly 8th century

Label TextThis rare early sculpture depicts Garuda, a divine bird-like deity who is perhaps best known as the vehicle of the Hindu god Vishnu, kneeling with his hands held tightly in his lap. This work is believed to relate to a large group of clay sculptures created in the early 700s as part of the five-story pagoda at Hōryūji, a Buddhist temple in Nara, which was the capital of Japan at the time. The first story of Hōryūji’s pagoda features four tableaux portraying scenes from the life of the Historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, including his final death, or parinirvana. This sculpture may show Garuda solemnly mourning the death of Shakyamuni or, alternatively, listening intently to his preaching.

Object number50.57

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Japanese Art In The Seattle Art Museum, 1960. Seattle, Washington, Seattle World's Fair, Fine Arts Pavilion, Art Of The Ancient East, 1962. Portland, Oregon, Portland Art Museum, Gift to a City: Masterworks from the Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection in the Seattle Art Museum, November 3 - 28, 1965. Cat. no. 104. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, A Thousand Cranes: Treasures Of Japanese Art, February 5 - July 12, 1987. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Deities & Demons: Supernatural in Japanese Art, October 20, 2022 – May 18, 2025 (on view December 7, 2024 – May 18, 2025).Published ReferencesHandbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works from the Permanent Collections. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1951; p. 84 (b&w). Fuller, Richard E. Japanese Art in the Seattle Art Museum: An Historical Sketch. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1960 ("Presented in commemoration of the Hundredth Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and the United States of America"); no. 24. Gift to a City: Masterworks from the Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection in the Seattle Art Museum, exh. cat. Portland, OR: Portland Art Museum, 1965; cat. no. 104.

Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection

Dimensions13 5/8 x 6 1/4 x 6 1/4 in. (34.61 x 15.88 x 15.88 cm)

MediumClay with gesso and polychrome