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LARGE TIBETO-CHINESE GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA
Kangxi period, 1662 – 1722
Height: 65.5 cm | 25 25/32 in
Click image for full-size version
Sakyamuni is seated in vajrasana, the lotus position, with both upturned feet exposed; the right hand is held in bhumisparsa, the earth touching gesture – invoking the earth as a witness to the truth of his words. The upturned left hand rests in his lap in dhyana mudra, the gesture of balance and of meditation; this hand – and both the soles of the feet – are chased with a dharmachakra, ‘the wheel of the Buddhist law’. Dressed in a long patchwork robe covering the left shoulder, arm and body – his right side is left exposed; the garment is finely chased – with individual floral sprays and borders decorating each patchwork panel. The Buddha has downcast eyes, pendulous ears, full pursed lips, and an expression of deep serenity and contemplation. A turquoise bead inlaid into his forehead represents the urna, and the ungilt hair and ushnisa (topknot) are worked into characteristic tight curls and screened from the front by a five leaf diadem – each leaf detachable and embellished with coral and turquoise beads. The double lotus base and figure are cast as one piece, and a lotus petal decoration extends three quarters of the way around the base – leaving the back plain, apart from a double incised scroll.
This Kangxi sculpture has a particularly strong Tibetan influence – noticeably in the angular facial features, slimmer torso, the un-Chinese waisted base with triple layer lotus petals and, most characteristically, the use of inlaid stones.
Similar examples: Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, by Ulrich Von Schroeder, Hong Kong, 1981 – figs. 153a & 153d are both in the Collection of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.
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