Artworks

Tentōki and Ryūtōki, Kōfukuji

Artwork · Kōben · 1215 · sculpture · Kōfuku-ji Temple

Two lantern-bearing demons made by Kōben in 1215 for the monk Shōshō of Kōfukuji, according to an inscription; they stood before the main altar of the western kondō until it burnt. Kōben joins the guardians of a gate, one open-mouthed and one closed, with mischievous little demons: squat Tentōki balances his lantern on his shoulder; Ryūtōki carries his on his head, a dragon coiled round his body — a petulant boy and a taunting brat in grotesque, humorous realism. 1 Mason 2005, p. 194, fig. 225. ↩ Literatur Mason 2005: Penelope E. Mason, History of Japanese Art, 2nd, Pearson Education LTD. 2005.