Gilt-bronze Miniature Shrine

Goryeo · 3F · Sculpture and Crafts · Buddhist Sculpture

This is a Goryeo-period Buddhist shrine made in the shape of a hall. Multiple metals were used in a single work: the roof tiles are blue-green bronze, the front double doors and the inner relief panels are gilt bronze, and the sides and back are silver plate. Inside, repoussé work renders the Buddha and a bodhisattva with palms joined in relief upon lotus pedestals, surrounded by the ten great disciples, with Manjusri riding a lion and Samantabhadra riding an elephant to the sides; a dragon adorns the ceiling and a lotus the floor. The Four Guardian Kings appear on the outer sides, and divine guardians wreathed in clouds with a lotus-scroll pattern on the back. Although the Buddha image inside no longer survives, a statue is presumed to have originally been enshrined here, as in the shrine of the same form at Cheoneunsa Temple.

See it in person at the National Museum of Korea — 3F · Sculpture and Crafts · Buddhist Sculpture

Source: based on official e-museum records (National Museum of Korea).