Square tile with Amitābha and attendants (Excavated from China)

Baked clay
8.8x8.8
China, Tang dynasty　7th century

H040339

Square tile with Amitābha and attendants (Excavated from China)_0

H040339
2017/09/05

Square tile with Amitābha and attendants (Excavated from China)_1

D000965
1988/07/20

Square tile with Amitābha and attendants (Excavated from China)_2

A024043
1988/07/20

Square tile with Amitābha and attendants (Excavated from China)_3

A024045

This votive tile features Amida Nyorai (Skt. Amitābha) flanked by two attendants. It is dated on the basis of an inscription on a similar tile that reads Jōgan 1—a year corresponding to 627, the first of a Tang-dynasty (618–907) reign era. The tile is thought to offer important evidence for the development of senbutsu with Buddha triads popular in Japan during the latter half of the seventh century.
Audio guide

This votive tile features a relief image of a Buddha flanked by two attendants, bodhisattvas in celestial attire. It was produced alongside countless other nearly identical tiles using the same mold. The Buddha at the center possibly forms the preaching mudra (Skt. dharmacakra-mudrā; J.seppō in), with the thumb and a finger of each hand forming a wheel—a gesture identifying this buddha as Amituo (Skt. Amitābha; J. Amida). The composition is superb in its rich expression of form, however small the scale of the tile itself.

YOSHIZAWA SatoruEnglish by Mary Lewine
Buddhist Art Paradise: Jewels of the Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 2021.7, p.351, no.12.

Accession Number	1091-0
Category	Archaeological Works
Provenance	Excavated from China
Bibliography	Buddhist Art Paradise: Jewels of the Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 2021.7, 354p. Buddhist images of East Asia. Nara National Museum, 1996, 306p. (Japanese) Illustrated Catalogue of the Collection of Nara National Museum: Buddhist Archaeological Objects. Nara National Museum, 1993, 156p. (Japanese) Sources of Japanese Buddhist art. Nara National Museum, 1978, 403p. (Japanese)