@article{oai:tobunken.repo.nii.ac.jp:00006462,
 author = {久野, 健 and Kuno, Takeshi},
 issue = {309},
 journal = {美術研究, The bijutsu kenkyu : the journal of art studies},
 month = {Feb},
 note = {Among the Japanese Buddhist images of the seventh and eighth centuries, there are many small gilt bronze examples measuring approximately one foot in height. These are found in numerous regions of Japan, including the so-called “Forty-eight Buddhist Images” which were handed down by the Hōryūji and are now in the Tokyo National Museum. Most of these have been kept by temples or were excavated at temple sites. However, their size looks to be too small for ritual use in temples. The author in this paper investigates the purpose for which they were made and the kind of places they were originally used, based on some extant inscriptions on images and remaining separate mandorlas, missing inscriptions recorded in documents, and other literary materials. The author discusses not only questions regarding the reasons for making these images but other questions about the donors and the artists.
     These information sources indicate that there were roughly three kinds of motives or reasons for donating such images. The first was to pray for a peaceful life for parents or other family members in this world. The second was to secure happiness in the after-world of the spouse or a closely related person who had died. The third was in memory of the emperor or of someone else. Among extant examples and from the literary information, there are five cases of the first kind, five cases of the second, and three of the third.
     In the early half of the seventh century this sort of small image was rarely placed in a private residence, but was mostly put in a clan temple or in a temple affiliated with the donor. But, in the reign of Empror Temmu, an edict was issued which encouraged each family to have a hall with Buddhist image(s) and Buddhist scriptures and it seems that the habit of placing and worshipping Buddhist images in private houses started about this time.
     It is also known from literary sources that the artists who made the small gilt bronze images in the seventh and eighth centuries were, with almost no exception, immigrants from the continent, mostly from Korea, and their descendants. Especially, a considerable number of specialists of Buddhist sculpture seem to have been included in the refugees who came from Korea to Japan when the kingdoms of Paekche and Koguryŏ perished. Kuni no Kotsufu, the grandfather of Kuninaka no Muraji Kimimaro who completed the gigantic Buddha image of the Tōdaiji was, for instance, among them. The extant images tell us that about this time sculptors began to live not only in the Yamato Region but also in other regions ranging from Kyūshū to Kanto in order to respond to the local demands.},
 pages = {18--32},
 title = {飛鳥・白鳳小金銅仏の発願者、制作者　上},
 year = {1979}
}