Objects excavated presumably in Fukuoka Prefecture 伝福岡県出土品でんふくおかけんしゅつどひん

Description

{i=>[Lotus Sutra, Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra, Fahua jing, Hoke kyō, Lotus Sutra], content=>[The gentle slope to the roof of this jeweled pagoda-shaped sutra container offers a sense of the beauty of late-Heian material culture. The Buddha images are likely the historical Buddha Śākyamuni and Prabhūtaratna Buddha. In the , (Skt. , ; Ch. , ; J. , ), Prabhūtaratna invited Śākyamuni to join him in the Jeweled Pagoda in which he had arrived to verify the teachings of the , . Two buddhas enshrined together often symbolize this scriptural episode.]}

These objects were reportedly excavated near Dazaifu city in Fukuoka prefecture, but the details are unknown. The bronze sutra case in the shape of a pagoda was firmly made and consists of the body, the roof and the sōrin-spire. The body part is divided at the shoulder to form a container section and a lid. Doors are depicted in line-carvings. A low platform is attached to the body part, and a bronze disk is attached to its bottom. The date together with needle-carved inscription are found on the top of the disk. According to the inscription, two Buddhist statues and a sutra scroll had been enclosed in this sutra case. The roof is made in the hōgyō style, and the roof tiles on the bronze plate are depicted in line-carving. Uzu ornaments are attached near the rim of the roof and fūtaku ornaments are hung from the eaves.