tenkandai　天冠台

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

Also houkandai 宝冠台. A decorative band around the head found on *bosatsu 菩薩 and *ten 天 sculpted images. The houkandai was worn just above the hairline and supported a crown *houkan 宝冠, or served as a hairband on a figure with a raised hairstyle *houkei 宝髻. On figures such as *Juuichimen Kannon 十一面観音 it formed a base for miniature figures *kebutsu 化仏 around the head. The tenkandai usually consisted of a series of lotus petals retsubenmon 列弁文 or series of small circles *renjumon 連珠文 in a single or double band. This was sometimes decorated with jewels, and occasionally had raised ornamentation. On wooden figures the tenkandai was carved from the same block of wood as the main image, as on the standing Shou Kannon 聖観音 in Honzanji 本山寺, or it was made separately from metal, as on the Juuichimen Kannon 十一面観音 in Houryuuji 法隆寺, Nara.

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