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

This image has a child-like body and facial features. While the facial features of this image differ from those of the images represented by N-179, this image can be considered as a variation of the boy images of the late seventh century.
The image, including the pedestal, is created in almost one cast except the left hand, which is cast separately and connected with the body via a mortise-tenon joint called arihozo. Moreover, half of the second finger of the right hand, which is missing now, seems to have also been cast separately and inlaid into the finger. The inside of the image up to the upper part of the insteps of the feet are hollowed out and the body above them is solid. Big mold cavities are concentrated in the pedestal. While the renjumon (a motif of raised beads placed in a row) on the ornaments is created with a nanako chisel, the fukurentenmon(a double dotted pattern) is applied using a special chisel along the hems of the kun (skirt) and tenne (a long cloth) and on the lotus core and the upper frame of the pedestal. Gold plating remains over almost the entire surface except the reverse side of the head ornaments and part of the hair. For coloring, lapis lazuli remains on the hair. The area inside the hollow is painted in yellowish red (tan).