Seated Figure of a Shintō Goddess

This seated figure represents a Shintō goddess richly dressed in courtly robes that were originally painted in a dark green malachite pigment. Tiny squares of gold cut from very thin gold foil decorate her robe in floral patterns. The figure was carved from a sacred tree (shinboku), starting from the inner rings of the tree—a much more difficult technique than carving from the outer rings, as is typical of Japanese Buddhist sculptures.

An image such as this served as the main icon (honzon) of a small shrine building within a larger shrine complex. This deity may also be associated with Kichijō-ten, a minor Buddhist goddess of wealth and beauty, who in turn is a form of the Hindu goddess Sri-mahadevi, the bejeweled and beautiful consort of Vishnu.