National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

This image displays agile movement as it holds up a water jar with its right hand and picks up a tenne (a long cloth) with its left hand while slightly turning its body. The smiling face also shows buoyant feelings. Bodhisattva images in the style of one arm holding up a symbol can be found among the images created after the Sui period in China.
The image, including the pedestal with the upturned lotus petals and a tenon below it, is created in one cast and is solid. While there are small mold cavities across the board, the casting finish is good. A double dotted motif is applied with a special chisel along the raised beads and the rim of the ornaments, along the hems of the kun (skirt) and tenne (a long cloth) and along the rim of the base of the water jar. The surface of the image is smeared with oil smoke and the coloring cannot be identified at the present, but gold plating remains over the entire surface except the hair. The area below the down-turned lotus petals of the pedestal is made of wood and lacquered, which was added in the Edo period.