8 | GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF AMITAYUS Kangxi period, 1662 – 1722 Height: 46 cm | 18 in Click image for full-size version Amitayus (also known as Amitabha) is revered as ‘Lord over the Intermediary Paradise’ and the ‘Buddha of Unmeasured Life’. He is seated in vajrasana on a double lotus base – both hands resting in his lap; one is placed above the other, face up, in dhyana mudra – the gesture of absolute balance and meditation. With pursed lips and half closed eyes, the expression is relaxed and calm. Amitayus wears a loose fitting and flowing dhoti that covers the legs and reveals both upturned and bejewelled feet; a shawl covers the shoulders, and a scarf swoops down over both forearms and either side of the figure onto the base. The chest is exposed and adorned with a floral necklace – below which hangs a longer beaded string. Bracelets decorate the arms and wrists, and elaborate earrings hang from the pendulous ears onto each shoulder – the design of which is repeated in the eight pointed floral crown that partly obscures the double topknot. Similar example: Indo-Tibetan Bronzes by Ulrich Von Schroeder, Hong Kong, 1981 – fig. 152a.