Country Group: China, Japan and Korea

Item id: 9687

Early Korean Bronze Buddha (Possibly Chinese), Large, Solid-Cast Example — Likely 1,000+ Years Old. This impressive early Korean (possibly Chinese) bronze Buddha is a rare and exceptionally finely crafted example of early East Asian Buddhist sculpture. The figure stands 7.5 inches tall (bronze only, excluding the custom museum-style base) and is unusually heavy for its size, suggesting a predominantly solid-cast construction—an uncommon and labor-intensive method for early bronzes of this type.



The crown, facial structure, and overall sculptural language point to an extremely early date, quite possibly 1,000 years old or more. The face—especially the shaping around the eyes—belongs unmistakably to the “family” of early Korean Buddhas, reflecting the serene, introspective expression seen in some of the rarest Goryeo and Unified Silla examples. The sculpting, casting, and finishing are of very high quality. Based on its proportions, the figure would have originally stood at over 15 inches tall when complete—an extraordinary size for an early Korean Buddhist bronze. Most surviving examples from this period are significantly smaller; I have personally never encountered another of this scale outside a museum or scholarly publication.



The piece carries compelling provenance, having been brought back to the United States in the early 1950s by a Korean War veteran, during or shortly after the period of U.S. occupation in Korea. A museum-worthy sculpture that merits serious scholarly study, and an extremely rare large-scale survivor from early Korean Buddhist tradition.