In Asia, sandalwood is appreciated for its aromatic, antibacterial and anti-insect properties. It has been used in China and Japan since the 7th century. With a diameter of sixty centimeters and only the heart of the wood being able to be used, the size of the first Buddhist sculptures in a single piece of wood were visibly reduced. The discovery of assembling many wood blocks together (Yosegi-Zukuri) allowed a more elaborate creation on a greater scale. Sculptures of Buddha and bodhisattva in sandalwood are produced in Japan until the end of the Kamakura period in the 13th century.
This depiction of Buddha symbolizes the beginning of the Kamakura period which celebrates the renaissance of Japanese Buddhist statuary. The style is inspired by that of the 7th century, using the Yosegi-Zukuri technique. Sakyamuni stands with his right hand raised in abhaya-mudrā, the gesture of fearlessness. The left hand falls to the side of his body, in the act of calling the earth to witness. He wears an ample monastic robe, cascading the length of his body in wet pleats plissé mouillé, revealing the form of the muscular form. This is very similar to the Gupta drapery seen in Chinese sculptures form the Northern Qi.
The face displays Japanese aristocratic features; an oval shape, a straight and lightly hooked nose and delicate lips. The fine and well-defined eyebrows join in a crescent moon, above a raised urna. The eyelids are half-closed in a form of introspection and the mouth reveals a discreet smile as a sign of Buddha’s compassion for humanity. The hair is heaped into concentric curls in an ushnisha.
Publication

This bell was published in :
Osaka Prefectural Senboki archaelogical research center, Osakafu no dotaku zuroku (Catalogue of bronze bells in Osaka Prefecture) (Osaka: Osaka Senboku Koko shiryokan, 1986), plates 52 et 53.