Horyuji Temple: Prince Shotoku

JAPAN, Nara, Ikoma; Heian period

The statue was displayed during the ceremony at the painting hall in the eastern compound of Horyuji Temple commemorating the death of Prince Shotoku. Some believe the statue was based on the prince when he was 7 years old, others believe this was his appearance at 16 years of age. It is now kept at the Great Treasure Hall. An inscription on the statue dates it to 1069 and identifies the sculptor-monk Enkai as its creator and Hata no Chitei as the artist who painted it. It was renovated in 1384 by the sculptor Shunkei based on its original description and was listed as an Important Cultural Property in 1906.
The prince’s hair is parted in the middle and coiled about the ears in the ancient fashion for young noblemen. He sits cross-legged, dressed in princely robes and stares straight ahead. The figure carries an oval fan in the left hand while the right hand rests on the knee. The prince rides in an open portable shrine that has an ornamented hip roof crowned with a pearl and is fronted with a hanging canopy.