mokakeza 裳懸座

Keywords
Art History
Sculpture

Lit. "hanging skirt base." A pedestal *daiza 台座 which is covered by the skirt of the Buddhist image it supports. This type of skirt, separate from the pedestal, is sometimes called *kakemo 懸裳. The pedestal underneath the robe is generally rectangular *senjiza 宣子座, but round or octagonal pedestals are also used for mokakeza. The robe hanging over the pedestal appears first in Gandharan Buddhist sculpture. Later, more direct prototypes for Japanese sculpture are found in 5th-century Chinese sculpture. In Japan representative examples of mokakeza include the Shaka sanzon-zō 釈迦三尊像 in Hōryūji *Kondō 法隆寺金堂 and the Yakushi nyorai-zō 薬師如来像 in Yakushiji Kondō 薬師寺金堂, both in Nara. These images sit on rectangular bases. Examples of mokakeza with cylindrical base *tōza 榻座 include the main image from Chūgūji 中宮寺 in Nara and the Miroku bosatsu-zō 弥勒菩薩像 from Yachūji 野中寺 in Osaka.