Qing Imperial Palace: Embroidery of Amitayus Buddha

CHINA, Beijing; Qing dynasty

The embroidered image of Amitayus Buddha is set against a deep blue silk background. The Buddha has a wide forehead and a square face with curved eyebrows, small eyes, thin lips, and long earlobes that extend to the shoulders. He wears a crown decorated with a flaming wish-fulfilling jewel in the middle, and his light blue hair falls down over the shoulders. A plain brown outer robe covers both shoulders and there is a white inner robe with finely decorated borders. The Buddha holds a lotus with both hands in front of his chest and sits in full lotus position on an upright lotus throne.
The gold nimbus is embroidered using the flat gold method to produce a sparkling effect which appears almost metallic. Above the Buddha, there is a magnificent lotus canopy embroidered in fine detail. Above the canopy is the red seal of Emperor Qianlong (reigned 1736–1795) of the Qing dynasty and beneath on the right side, there is an inscription by the emperor together with various names.
This embroidery mainly uses the block-shading stitch method, along with the slanting and couching stitches. The figure of Amitayus Buddha and the lotus throne almost seem to have the effect of a woodblock printing.