The original creator of the Juichimen Kannon statue is unknown, but the sculpture’s date can be traced back to the late 10th century based on iconography, style, and documentary records. This anonymity is typical of Buddhist sculptures, where artists mainly worked in guilds and workshops and few were individually known. However, we do know the artistic techniques employed to carve Japanese sculpture dating back to the early Nara period into the early Heian Period. During the first half of the eighth century, lacquer sculpture was representative of statues dating to 734 in a collection in the Kofuku Temple in Nara. During the latter parts of the eighth century, sculptors in the temples of Nara developed a method that replaced the dry lacquer technique with a permanent wood core called mokushin. “One piece of wood” technique, called ichiboku in Japanese, was embraced in the Heian period and is the method employed to sculpt this eleven-headed Kannon. The Heian artists made wood the main medium rather than bronze or lacquer. Ichiboku technique was widely used when creating a standing figure, focusing on the head, trunk, and legs. Many artisans of the early Heian Period were trained in chiseling and worked with high-quality cutting tools. The skill and aesthetic of Heian wooden sculptures reveal a newly emerging Japanese aesthetic. Note the elegant yet stylized lines of the drapery as well as the subtle jewelry on Kannon’s arms. A similar aesthetic is apparent in a later Heian Kannon image in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Period style is observable because the artists focus on technique and communicating spiritual significance rather than expressing their personal creativity. Many Buddhist sculptures were created as Buddhist temple projects rather than seen as separate pieces. They were positioned in the temple setting as images to be worshiped. 

Scholars attribute the iconography of the Eleven-headed Kannon (Ekadasamuka Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit) to have originated in India, though there is only one extant example in that country. The worship of this deity became popular in China in the late 7th and early 8th centuries, though not many examples remain. It is in Japan where we find a great number of statues of this deity. 

CJ Egrie, Class of  2026, College of the Holy Cross