- Title
- Base for an Image of Amitabha, the Victorious (Jina) Buddha of Infinite Light
- Date Made
- 1190-1285
- Medium
- Wood with mineral pigments and gilding
- Dimensions
- 7 x 13 1/2 x 9 3/4 in. (17.78 x 34.29 x 24.77 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2010.78.4
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
This image base can be associated iconographically with Amitabha, the Victorious (Jina) Buddha of Infinite Light. The principal panel in the center of the front is adorned with a lotus, the emblem of Amitabha as the head of the Lotus (padma) Family of Buddhas that symbolize love, compassion, and the transformation of desire into wisdom. It is an elaborate composition with a central stalk surmounted by an open blossom and multiple tendrils growing out of the bottom that morph into broad foliage. The lotus is flanked by two peacocks (mayura), the twin mount (vahana) of Amitabha. The based is painted sunset red, which is the color of Amitabha as the Lord of the Sukhavati (blissful) Paradise or Western Pure Land believed to be located in the West. Above and below the central panels are wide borders of scrolling foliage and entwined mythical aquatic creatures (makara). The slot on the top rear of the base was for inserting an image aureole (prabhavali). See David Kamansky, ed., Wooden Wonders: Tibetan Furniture in Secular and Religious Life (Pasadena: Pacific Asia Museum and Chicago: Serindia Publications, 2004), p. 320, no. 139. See also M.2010.81.7.