614 THE ART OF CASTING BRONZE IN JAPAN. 



the latter gronj) are given in two plates from tbe Pictorial Arts of 

 Japan, by Prof. J. W. Anderson, which are on the table. 



Date 705 A. D. — A spherical box of gilt bronze, bearing this date, 

 which was found in a stone sarcophagus at Ten-o-ji, near Osaka, is inter- 

 esting, as it is probably the oldest dated piece of Japanese metal work 

 in the country. 



Date 708 A. D. — Bronze coins, " Wado-zeni," the earliest coinage in 

 Japan of which there is any record. According to Japanese histories 

 copper is said to have been discovered in the country only in G98 A. D., 

 but the accuracy of this statement, for many reasons, is open to doubt, 

 and the discovery chronicled doubtless only relates to the finding of 

 deposits of ore of more than usual extent and richness. The issue of 

 this coinage, which was cast from copper from these deposits, was 

 regarded as an event of great national importance, and to commemo- 

 rate it the "nen-go," or name of the period by which the series of years 

 are distinguished in Japanese chronology, was altered to "Wa-do," 

 which signifies Japanese copper. Besides these there were three other 

 distinct coinages during this century. 



Date 732 A. D. — The great bronze bell of the temple Todaiji, in l^ara. 

 Its aijproximate dimensions are, height, 13 feet; diameter, 9 feet; thick- 

 ness, 8 to 10 inches. Its weight can not be easily determined, as its 

 thickness is variable, but at the lowest estimate can not be much less 

 than 40 tons. 



Date 749 A. D. — Colossal image of Rochana or Yairotchana, in the 

 temple of Todaiji, commonly known as the Nara Daibutsu. 



This is the largest bronze figure in the country. It has not, however, 

 been cast in one piece, but is constructed chiefly of numerous pieces of 

 comparatively small size. Some of the lower portions have been cast 

 by building up the mold on the parts already finished, but the greater 

 part of the image consists of separate castings, which have been united 

 by running in an alloy containing large proportions of tin and lead 

 between their edges. 



The following dimensions are those given on a wood engraving of the 

 image — one of which is exhibited — sold by the priests of the temple, and 

 may be considered as only approximately accurate: Height, 53.2 feet; 

 breadth of face, 9.4 feet; length of eye, 3.9 feet; thickness, variable, 

 3 to 12 inches. 



The figure is seated on a huge lotus flower with fifty-six external 

 petals, each of which measures 10 feet 6 inches by 6 feet, and appears 

 to be a single casting. Twice it has been iia-rtially destroyed by con- 

 flagrations and once by an earthquake. The present head, cast in the 

 sixteenth century, is extremely ugly, destitute of any trace of the 

 grace and refined expression of the earlier statues, and not at all in 

 harmony with the ancient parts of the figure. 



The authorities of the temple state that the image is composed of 

 " shakudo" (a copper alloy containing gold). They also give the weights 

 of the copper, tin, gold, and mercury, which were used in casting it, and 



