ROWLAND COLLECTION OF BUDDHIST ART. 741 



5-7. Three figurines of Buddha, representing- him in the usual 

 attitudes: Standing or teaching, sitting in meditation, and reclining, 

 or passing into Nirvana. Bronze. The seated figurine is, like No. 2, 

 inerusted around the forehead with colored stones. Measurements: 

 13 inches, 10£ inches, and 10 inches, respectively. (Plate 5, Cat. Nos. 

 216127-216129, U.S.N. M.) 



8. Buddha, seated upon tup: lotus throne, which is supported 

 by two lions, the emblem of the Sakya clan, with the nimbus in form 

 of a tig leaf in the back, and attended by Bodhisattvas and disciples, 

 comprising altogether fifteen figures. Bodhisattvas, in the teaching of 

 the northern or Mahyana schools of Buddhism, are preexistent or 

 future Buddhas. It is the belief of the Buddhists that these teachers 

 of mankind appear upon earth at long intervals and the doctrine which 

 they all proclaim is the same. With each there is a period in which 

 the doctrine flourishes, then a gradual decline, then it is completely 

 overthrown, till a new deliverer appears and once more establishes the 

 lost truths. The last Buddha of this age of the world after Gautama 

 will be Maitreya, ""the loving one/* The term Bodhisattva is, however, 

 often applied to those Buddhist teachers who distinguished themselves 

 by learning and piety. The Bodhisattvas are usually represented as 

 young men wearing crowns or richly ornamented turbans with a round 

 nimbus and decked with bracelets, necklaces, and breast chains. They 

 are also often provided with some distinguishing emblem or attribute, 



iuch as a lotus, a sword, a small pagoda, a book, etc., and they ride 

 Inimals, as lions, elephants, tigers, etc. Made of wood, lacquered and 

 gilded. Inclosed in a black lacquered shrine which is adorned with orna- 

 mental bronze clasps and fittings and gilded inside. The doors of the 

 shrine on the inside are painted in colors with figures of Nios or tem- 

 ple guards, which are sometimes placed on both sides of the first por- 

 tal of a Buddhist temple in Japan. The shrine is said to date from 

 the sixteenth century A. D. , and to have come from the Vara temple. 

 Measurements of the shrine: Height, 2 feet 1 inches; width, 2 feet; 

 depth, 1 foot.— Japan. (Plates 6 and 7, Cat. No. 216133, U.S.N. M.) 



9. Buddha, standing in a small pagoda and attended on either 

 side by saints seated upon lotuses. The pagoda as well as the lotuses 

 are supported by mythical animals, which rest on an elaborately carved 

 pedestal. Wood, carved, lacquered, and gilded. Inclosed in a black 

 lacquered shrine, the interior of which is gilded. Measurements of 

 the shrine: Height, 12^ inches; width, 11 inches; depth, 7i inches.— 

 Japan. (Cat. No. 216134, U.S.N.M.) 



10. Buddha, or a Bodhisattva, seated upon the lotus throne, 

 which ia supported by mythical animals. Wood, carved and gilded. 

 Inclosed in a round shrine, lacquered in antique red, with bronze 

 decorated folding doors, beautifully carved base, and gilded inside. 



