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

This image has a touch of the Indian style, such as the hair bound like a turban, the barrette-like front head decoration and the kun (skirt) rolled up to the ankles. The facial features, posture, way of wearing the tenne (a long cloth) and the kun and the shape of the edgy lotus petals on the pedestal are similar to those of a Bodhisattva image, an attendant of the Amitaba trinity or Biku image (for example N-198) among repousse reliefs depicting Buddhist deities that had been owned by Horyuji Temple.
The body and the pedestal are cast separately. The body up to the tenons under the feet is created in one cast and hollowed out from the head to the bottom of the kun. The space between the feet that shows from the bottom of the kun is open. The overall thickness of the copper is thin and almost even. An iron core remains within the image from the top of the head to the abdomen. A square katamochi (a metal piece inserted between the outer and inner molds) is installed in the center of the abdomen and in the center of the belt on the back. An inlay treatment remains in two places below the hips on the back, while the tip of the fifth finger of the left hand, which is missing now, seems to have been created separately and inlaid. The pedestal is created in one cast and there are mortises on the lotus core to receive the tenons created at the bottom of the feet and for a halo support. While mold cavities can be found all over the body and the pedestal, they are particularly concentrated in the area around the top of the head and in the lower half of each leg. While gold plating remains over the body and pedestal, coloring can be seen only on the body, with lapis lazuli on the hair, vermillion (or Bengala) on the lips and black sumi on the eyebrows, mustache and outlines of the eyes and lips.