Seated Buddha

CHINA; Sixteen Kingdoms

The Buddha is depicted sitting cross-legged with hands in dhyana (meditation) mudra. The usnisa on top of the head is shaped like a stupa. The figure wears a monastic robe that covers both shoulders with folds cascading down the arms and over the wrists, and then over the edge of the throne. Snarling lions are located on either side of the throne and a lotus blooms between them. There is two circular mortise holes on the back of the statue where a missing mandorla may once have been attached. This type of image was popular during the last half of the 4th century and the first half of 5th century, and is similar to statues from the Later Zhao dynasty (319–351).