The Burke Jizō is a 13th century wooden statue of the

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...

Kṣitigarbha Kṣitigarbha (, , Wylie: ''sa yi snying po'') is a bodhisattva primarily revered in East Asian Buddhism and usually depicted as a Buddhist monk. His name may be translated as "Earth Treasury", "Earth Store", "Earth Matrix", or "Earth Womb". ...

, carved in the around 1202 by the sculptor

Kaikei was a Japanese Busshi (sculptor of Buddha statue) of Kamakura period, known alongside Unkei. Because many busshi of the school have a name including ''kei'' (慶), his school is called ''Kei-ha'' (Kei school). Kaikei being also called , his s ...

. Originally held at

Kōfuku-ji is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples in the city of Nara, Japan. The temple is the national headquarters of the Hossō school. It is part of Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara, a World Heritage Site. H ...

, it was held in private collections for many years, including that of American collector

Mary Griggs Burke Mary Griggs Burke (June 20, 1916 – December 8, 2012) was an American art collector. Over fifty years, Burke acquired the largest private collection of Japanese art outside Japan. Her collection grew so large that she housed it in a separate apa ...

(1916–2012), whereupon in 2015, her collection was bequeathed to the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

among which includes this statue.

Background

In 1180, during the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yori ...

, the

Siege of Nara The alternatively known as the Nanto Arson Campaign in Japan is an event which took place on January 15th 1181 (December 28th 1180 in the Jishō calendar), following Prince Mochihito and Minamoto no Yorimasa's defeat and subsequent death to the ...

goaded by the

Taira clan The was one of the four most important Japanese clans, clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period, Heian period of History of Japan, Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto clan, Minamoto, the Fujiwara clan, Fuji ...

caused the destruction of the city and its principal temples,

Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Nanto Shichi Daiji, Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Nara, Nara, Japan. The construction of the temple was an attempt to imitate Chinese temples from the much-admir ...

and Kōfuku-ji. In the decades after the war, construction spurred, helmed by the

Kei school The was a Japanese school (style) of Buddhist sculpture which emerged in the early Kamakura period (c. 1200). Based in Nara, it was the dominant school in Buddhist sculpture in Japan into the 14th century, and remained influential until the 19th. ...

, a studio dedicated towards

Buddhist sculpture Buddhist art is visual art produced in the context of Buddhism. It includes depictions of Gautama Buddha and other Buddhas and bodhisattvas, notable Buddhist figures both historical and mythical, narrative scenes from their lives, mandalas, ...

. Prominent members of the school includes Kōkei, his son

Unkei was a Japanese sculptor of the Kei school, which flourished in the Kamakura period. He specialized in statues of the Buddha and other important Buddhist figures. Unkei's early works are fairly traditional, similar in style to pieces by his fathe ...

, and Kaikei, who would later commission his first attributable work, the

Boston Miroku The Boston Miroku is a Kamakura period wooden sculpture of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future. Carved by the Tori Busshi, Buddhist sculptor Kaikei in 1189, it was once held and venerated at Kōfuku-ji, Nara (city), Nara until the temple sold it i ...

in 1189 to Kōfuku-ji, where upon he would spend years carving the pantheon to restore the Nara temples to their former glory. In 1906, the Jizō was de-accessioned by Kōfuku-ji as the temple needed funds due to neglect, a fallout of the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

policy of

shinbutsu bunri The Japanese term indicates the separation of Shinto from Buddhism, introduced after the Meiji Restoration which separated Shinto ''kami'' from buddhas, and also Buddhist temples from Shinto shrines, which were originally amalgamated. It is a ...

and

haibutsu kishaku (literally "abolish Buddhism and destroy Shākyamuni") is a term that indicates a current of thought continuous in Japan's history which advocates the expulsion of Buddhism from Japan. In April 1970,

type design Type design is the art and process of designing typefaces. This involves drawing each letterform using a consistent style. The basic concepts and design variables are described below. A typeface differs from other modes of graphic production su ...

Jackson Burke Jackson Burke (1908 in San Francisco, California – 1975) was an American type and book designer. After studying at the University of California, Berkeley, he succeeded C.H. Griffith as Director of Typographic Development at Mergenthaler Linotyp ...

and his wife, Mary, acquired the statue at the Galerie Janette Ostier,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The Burke Collection would then become the largest collection of

Japanese art Japanese art consists of a wide range of art styles and media that includes Jōmon pottery, ancient pottery, Japanese sculpture, sculpture, Ink wash painting, ink painting and Japanese calligraphy, calligraphy on silk and paper, Ukiyo-e, paint ...

outside of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and as such the statue would be displayed on special exhibits from 1985 onwards. Upon the passing of Mary Griggs Burke in 2012, the collection including the Burke Jizō has since then become a part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's permanent collection. In 2017, the statue was displayed at the

Nara National Museum The is one of the pre-eminent national art museums in Japan. Introduction The Nara National Museum is located in Nara, which was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784. Katayama Tōkuma (1854–1917) designed the original building, which is a rep ...

as part of a

retrospective A retrospective (from Latin ', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in software development, popular culture, and the arts. ...

exhibit on Kaikei's work.

Description

The statue, carved from

hinoki ''Chamaecyparis obtusa'' (Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; or , ) is a species of cypress native to central Japan in East Asia, and widely cultivated in the temperate northern hemisphere for its high-quality timber and ornamental qu ...

, is joined with a technique known as yosegi-zukuri (or multiple blocks), with a hollow interior, where the crystal eyes are inlaid. The Burke Jizō utilizes a signature style of Kaikei, which is that of a naturalistic model of the body, along with cut-gold patterning of the robes ('' kirikane''). His right hand would hold a staff, the

khakkhara A khakkhara (; ; ; ), sometimes referred to in English as a pewter staff, is a staff topped with metal rings traditionally carried by Buddhism, Buddhist monks, particularly in East Asian Buddhism. Originally used as a noisemaker to announce a m ...

and a jewel on the left hand (''hōju no tama''). SL 8 2000 1 8 int

While the Boston Miroku carved in 1189, represented the first phase of Kaikei's style, from 1192 to 1209 marked the second phase of his art career, in which he adopted the "An Ami" style, named after his signature "Kōshō An Amida Butsu" (Craftsman An

Amida Buddha Amida can mean : Places and jurisdictions * Amida (Mesopotamia), now Diyarbakır, an ancient city in Asian Turkey; it is (nominal) seat of: ** The Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Amida ** The Latin titular Metropolitan see of Amida of the Roma ...

). This style was reflected on the Jizō, involving naturalism as well as linear and simplified decorations, heavily influenced by

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

art, thanks to the abbot of

Chōgen was a after '' Manju'' and before ''Chōryaku.'' This period spanned the years from July 1028 through April 1037. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * 1028 : The new era name ''Chōgen'' was created to mark and event or series of ...

. The abbot's visits to China inspired him to remodel Nara's temples from what was contemporary at the time.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke Jizo 1200s in art Kei school Japanese sculpture Buddhist sculpture Wooden sculptures in New York City Sculptures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Kṣitigarbha

Background

Description

See also

References