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

This statue depicts Zaō Gongen, a Shinto-Buddhist combinatory deity central to the mountain ascetic practice known as Shugendō. The figure’s left hand is placed on the waist, and the raised right hand grasps an object (now lost). The entire body is supported by the left leg, while the right is raised up. This pose imbues the statue with a sense of power and tension. The deity faces forward with a straight upper body, as if correcting its posture, and the left leg stands perpendicular to the ground in a powerful rendering reminiscent of early Zaō Gongen statues. Traits from the late Heian period (12th century) are seen in the balanced head and body, the full chest, and the slender arms and legs. The statue also has a stern look, with large facial features, up-angled eyes, and upper teeth biting down on the bottom lip. These elements emulate earlier styles of Zaō Gongen statues. Although it wears Zaō Gongen’s typical attire—a band of cloth draped crosswise over the shoulder (jōhaku), a waistcloth, and a wraparound skirt (kun)—it lacks the animal skin the figure is often depicted wearing. The bottom hem of the kun is wrapped around both legs and is pulled upward from both kneecaps similar to a dhoti, reflecting a style likely based on earlier designs.

The statue was produced using lost-wax casting, and holes presumably formed by a mid-sized support structure penetrate the statue’s interior at the back of the bound hair and the back of the right leg. The bronze walls are thin, and a place on the back of the skirt where molten metal once filled a hole made by a metal wedge that held the outer and inner molds in place has been removed and left open. Despite its pitted appearance, the surface was gilt. The figure’s jeweled crown, which might have been a three-pronged vajra crown, has been lost. Holes for attaching ornamental chains (yōraku) remain on the front of the body. The statue is an exceptional work produced in the late Heian period (794–1185) that faithfully preserves elements of earlier styles.