Good afternoon to all of you and happy Wednesday! It is time for another installment of Collection Items That Blow Natalie’s Mind. Up fortieth: Buddha statue This Buddha, currently on display in the Dining Room, was probably acquired during Seward’s 1871 world travels. It is carved from alabaster and painted with a coral red and gold color scheme, though little is left of the original paint. We believe this Buddha is from the Ava period of Burma (now Myanmar). Ava was a prominent city in Burma from the city’s founding by King Thado Minpya in 1364 A.D. until the fall of the Taungoo Dynasty in 1752. Buddha images from the Ava period are recognizable by shape and features of the face. These Buddha’s have a large forehead, an oval shaped face with a pointed chin, curved eyebrows, downward gazing eyes, a low nose bridge, and small lips with a clear cleft. Various materials were used to create Buddha images, depending on where the artisans that created them were living. Those commonly employed were precious wood, bronze with a high copper content and alabaster painted with lacquer, and then adorned with gold. The particular pose of this Buddha is a fairly common one; it represents the moment the Buddha called upon the earth to witness his enlightenment. Just before he realized enlightenment, it is believed that Siddhartha was surrounded by the demon Mara and armies of demons and who tried to tempt Siddhartha out of meditation under the Bodhi tree. While the demon king Mara claimed the throne of enlightenment for himself, his demon army claimed to be the witness for Maras enlightenment. Mara then challenged Siddhartha about the witness. Then the former prince reached his right hand down to touch the earth, calling upon the Earth Goddess to witness that the Buddha achieved enlightenment in order to share with the rest of the world. The prominent position of Buddha in the Dining Rooms leads many of our guests to ask about the Seward family and religion. Mrs. Seward grew up in a Quaker household and was deeply religious her entire life. Her husband, however, was not overtly religious. He attended church on Sundays, but he does not often reference religion of any kind in his letters or speeches. He had a great deal of respect for people of all religions, which at the time was not always the most popular view. In fact, when he was a candidate for President in 1860, Seward’s view on equal education for Catholic immigrants was considered more radical than his thoughts on ending slavery. Every Wednesday throughout 2014, we will post another collection item that blows our Director of Development’s mind. Please feel free to share these posts with anyone you think might be interested. Not all of the items well be sharing are currently on display at the Museum, but when they are we will say where.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 20:40:17 +0000
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