A Boddhisattva's Mount?

#Chinesesculpture #elephant #puxian #samantabhadra #chinesebuddhistart

This has been roughly dated to the #TANG dynasty. It's a rather odd object in that part of it seems to be missing and not merely broken off but to have had a whole detachable upper part missing.

Its an elephant and carved in a white stone and it is standing on a lotus which suggests an association with the #boddhisattva #Samantabhadra.

In many paintings of Samantabhadra also known as Fugen in Japan a pedestal can clearly been seen. So I'm thinking either the top part was broken off perhaps during an anti buddhist riot or there were a separate statue designed to revolve as part of some kind of ritual or because it was made in a separate material, jade, gold, or ivory?

That Elephant Guy

THAT ELEPHANT GUY
#samantabhadra #buddhistart #boddhisattva #fugen

Wandering thru stores that sell chinese ceramics or buddhist supplies one could be forgiven for thinking Chinese and other Mahayana Buddhists only revere Kuanyin Hotei and the Buddha. I suspect there's a factory somewhere where some one said ... just change the hands in the mold!

There are other Boddhisattvas.

REMINDER

CHECK WHAT THE HANDS ARE HOLDING

SAMANTABHADRA

Patron of the Lotus Sutra Speaker of the 10 Vows of the Boddhisattva

Boddhisattva of Action and law this entity is also known as 

Chinese Fu Hsien Pu Xian Bo Hsian 

Japan FUGEN

Korea PoHyon

Vietnam Pho Hien

Mongolia Qamugha Sain

Tibet Kuntuzanpo 

Paintings and sculptures usually depict him in a trinity or group with the Buddha or other Boddhisattvas but also sometimes on his elephant and other times standing or on a lotus throne.

The Tibetans seem to prefer depict him in Tantric congress. 

Support me via PayPal.me/JulieVaux 

Or PATREON PLEDGE ME

 http://www.patreon.com/JVartndesign