11 | A PARCEL GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF BODHIDHARMA Nine character dedication with a cyclical date corresponding to AD 1496 and of the period Ming dynasty China The figure is seated in the western position on a tiger pelt that is draped over a rock. His legs are crossed, and he holds a feather fan in his right hand that rests on his knee; the left hand is clenched into a fist and rests on the other knee. Bodhidharma is dressed in a long dhoti tied below the chest in a double bow - leaving the feet exposed; the torso is bare except for a patchwork priest's robe that covers his left shoulder and arm - the patched seams and trim decorated with gilt dragons against a dark bronze field. All the exposed flesh is richly gilt - including the figure's face and the bold head that turns slightly to the right. His curling beard and the hair around the side of his head are left ungilt - thus providing a strong contrast that heightens the figure's pensive expression with furrowed brow. On the reverse, a cast nine character dedication reads: Hongzhi binchen taijian Yaoju zhi - made in the Hongzhi binchen year (for or by) eunuch Yaoju. Height: 12 5/8" / 32 cm The tail of the tiger pelt at the back is incised with two characters zuo qi 'left no. 7'; this most likely indicates its position on the altar - within a set. Bodhidharma is the historical 6th century Indian monk who introduced 'Chan' buddhism into China - better known in Japan as Zen - and is regarded as the sect's first patriarch. He arrived in Nanjing, and between AD 520-527 he preached to the ruling Liang dynasty. He made little headway, however, and moved north to Luoyang (capital of the northern Wei dynasty) - where Buddhism had already been established - and this is where the Chan sect was established. Compare: 'Indo Tibetan Bronzes', by Ulrich Von Schroeder, Visual Dharma Publications Ltd. Hong Kong, 1981 - fig. 143 c. This figure of Arhat Bhadra in the Musee Guimet, dated to the 14th century, has similar features and is also depicted with bald head and curling beard and moustache. Compare: 'Histoire des Arts Anciens de la Chine' volume III - La Sculpture de l'Epoque Han a l'Epoque Ming', Osvald Siren, Les editions G. Van Oest, Paris and Brussels 1930 - plate 121, fig. c - a seated bronze luohan dated 1482.