McClung Museum: Seated Buddha on Lotus

While most students attending the University of Tennessee have entered the Frank H. McClung Museum on at least one occasion, it seems that few really understand the wealth of knowledge and variety of artifacts and objets d’art it contains. One of those beautiful finds is a Seated Buddha on Lotus from China, dating to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE). It was constructed using dry lacquer covered by gold leaf and pigments.

This Buddha is on loan from the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation in New York and was originally part of the “Sacred Beauty: A Millennium of Religious Art, 600-1600,” during the Fall 2007 semester. The exhibition, compiled by members of the University of Tennessee faculty, contained exemplary artifacts significant to the five major religions that dominated the world after the fall of the Roman Empire; Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism.


After the exhibition came to a close, the museum was able to keep the golden Buddha on was moved to the Decorative Arts gallery along side lovely pieces from around the world. More recently, it was moved to the second floor and immediately captivates the attention of the museum visitors. While it certainly was at home in its previous locations, this new move allows the piece to receive the attention it deserves rather than be just another artifact in a gallery.

Seated Buddha on Lotus is an example of one of the most widespread devotional images of the Buddhist world, with influences traceable back to the Gupta Empire (320-600s CE). The snail-shell curls of the Buddha and the prominent ushnisha, which symbolizes his extraordinary wisdom, are key features of the Gupta style, as well as the fleshy face, bee-stung lips, downcast eyes, and lack of definition of the underlying musculature. This style traveled trough India into Southeast Asia, specifically Tibet, where it was brought into China and eventually Japan. The double lotus pedestal and the ornamentation on the Buddha's robes indicate direct Tibetan influence. Seated Buddha on Lotus is an excellent device in illustrating how ideas and artistic styles can be adapted and translated to fit different cultures.

Recent detective work inside the sculpture have yield very interesting results. 43 paper scroll tied with silk scrolls were placed into the hollow structure at the time of its consecration. Tibetan Buddhism was very popular with the Ming Dynasty aristocrats and religious texts in the Tibetan language were produced in Peking, better known as Beijing to English speakers. Some of the cords were cut from scrolls containing the Hundred Syllable Mantra, a very well known Buddhist evocation in red Tibetan letters. Perhaps this was to ensure that the Buddha received the mantra. Other scrolls in black printed mantra in Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language, evoke Vajrasattva, the Primordal Buddha, as in later forms of Buddhism, such as Tibetan Buddhism, believe that there are several Buddhas, not just the historical Buddha, also known as Shakyamuni, who lived around 563 B.C.E. to 483 B.C.E., though there is some debate on this.

Other objects such as 45 pounds of sandal wood, aromatic herbs, beans, and peas were also found inside the hollow cavity. Devoutees given offerings to Buddhist statues like this one so perhaps this a permanent offering or the materials are sacred in some way. I have some knowledge about Buddhism but looking closely at this sculpture has made it clear that there is still much to learn.