antique bronze statues and gilt bronzes chinese and Indian sculptures antique chinese porcelain examples Welcome   Our Collections Bronzes and Metalwork Exhibitions Early Ceramics Contact Enamels Furniture   Himalayan   Indian   Ivory and Raino Horn   Lacqoer   Porcelain   Sculpture   Southeast Asian   Works of Art 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.