A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AMITAYUS

18TH CENTURY

Details

A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AMITAYUS
18th century
Finely cast seated in vajrasana on a finely-detailed lotus base, the hands lowered in dhyanamudra, wearing a five-leaf openwork tiara around the two tiered hair knot and high lotus urna, earrings, a long necklace, bracelets and ankle bands, all inlaid with hardstones including lapis lazuli, coral and malachite, the loose dhoti with a finely incised floral hem, the hair pigmented blue, the flesh with traces of brown lacquer, hardstone losses
17 in. (43 cm.) high

Lot Essay

Amitayus is the Amitabha as Buddha of Long Life. See 17th Century examples from Outer Mongolia with similar facial features, illustrated by Von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, p.53. Compare another example in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, illustrated by Rose Lee, 'Chinese Textiles related to Tibetan Buddhism in the Hong Kong Museum of Art', Arts of Asia, July-August 1995, p.72, fig.5.

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