The $14M Dollar Buddha Pt. 3
By DR. YOKO HSUEH SHIRAI
SPECIAL TO THE RAFU
Saturday, April 18, 2009

An x-ray image (right) of the Buddha statue does not give the written evidence needed
to properly identify its creator.

This is the third installment in a series by USC lecturer, Dr. Yoko Hsueh Shirai, covering the story of a recently auctioned Japanese Buddha sculpture at Christie’s New York (sold at over $14 million, hence the title) that set off a craze in Japan involving museum professionals, scholars,
Buddhist temple administrators, icon sculptors, and the public at large. In case you missed last week’s installment, please check our website, www. rafu.com to catch up.

As Yamamoto tells it in one of several articles published in 2004 concerning this newly rediscovered Vairocana, he knew right away from the enclosed photographs that this icon was by Unkei and, moreover, bore an uncanny resemblance to the smaller Kotokuji Vairocana he had closely examined many years before.

Both seated icons had similar hairstyles, a kind of ponytail or topknot piled high on the head, a crown, a placid and square-shaped face, the fingers held near the center of the chest made the gesture of the “knowledge fist” with the icon’s left hand forming a fist with the index finger pointing up and the right hand grasping that finger. The legs were crossed with the right foot placed over the left, and most peculiar was the pattern of folds on the garment falling over the right leg and facing the viewer. These were gentle, undulating folds that swept away from the center, wider towards the center and gathering together beneath each knee.

Both the Kotokuji and the recently auctioned Vairocana had the same simple, subtle treatment of folds in this area which contrasted to many confirmed sculptures by Unkei that have deeply cut or grooved folds often appearing in complicated, concentric patterns echoing the contours of the legs and creating a rather vigorous and bold impression.

Nonetheless, on stylistic grounds Yamamoto harbored little doubt that this newly rediscovered Vairocana was by Unkei. And then, after examining the x-ray taken photographs of the image, the objects inserted inside the body cavity provided even more evidence to Yamamoto that not only was this image by Unkei’s studio, it might even be the one described in the Bannaji temple documents that described a completely gold-colored, three-shaku high Vairocana.

Yet measuring one shaku and five sun, the newly discovered icon fell considerably short of three-shaku; but the author assured us that if this seated wooden figure were to stand up, it would indeed measure three shaku.

Gold leaf covered nearly the entire body, so this part of the description was without question. The x-rays revealed the placement of a spherical crystal ball mounted on a bronze lotus pedestal and secured to a wooden placard so that inside the body, the sphere was located just behind the tip of the index finger making the “knowledge fist.” Imagine a beam of spiritual energy emanating from the crystal “heart” and passing through the tip of the finger to produce a doubled force of power. The wooden placard had a five-element pagoda finial at the top, situated just between the eyes, and the rest of the placard went right down the center of the body, parallel to the index finger, ending just below the abdomen. There was an additional five-element pagoda believed to be made of crystal, relatively small and placed next to the crystal ball.

The close relationship between these objects and the Kotokuji Vairocana made believers out of many that Unkei’s studio created both sets of objects, and quite possibly for temples located at Ashikaga city.

News of the discovery of this unknown sculpture attributed to Unkei captured the public’s attention after it appeared in national daily newspapers such as the Yomiuri Shimbun and Asahi on 13 March 2004, shortly before the icon was exhibited alongside the Kotokuji Vairocana at the Tokyo National Museum, from April to June and again between September and November.

But with tremendous fame comes tremendous responsibility. As reported by Yomiuri Shinbun (20 March 2008), in July of 2006, the owner of the Vairocana applied for export papers with the intention of selling the object, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs tried to persuade him to sell the icon to the state for the equivalent of approximately three to four million dollars; the owner asked for eight million and refused. Japanese law prohibits the exportation of objects protected by law, but this law only applies to objects that have already been designated as national cultural properties. Technically, an owner’s decision to have a cultural property recognized as being a national treasure or just important by the national authorities is entirely voluntary.

Usually, museums and temples want to have national treasures in their collections as a way to raise their prestige and increase attendance to their institutions. But this private citizen chose not to have his Vairocana become a designated important cultural property to the dismay of many other fellow citizens.
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The fourth and final installment will appear in next Thursday’s Arts & Entertainment section.