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Lot Essay
The only other closely comparable example of this impressively large gilt-bronze figure is formerly from the George Crofts Collection and was gifted to the Royal Ontario Museum (no. 921.31.30) by D.A. Dunlap. These massive figures would probably have been commissioned by an important patron as pious gifts to a major temple, where they may have formed part of a prestigious group.
The Ontario figure and the present example belong to a small group of Buddhist gilt-bronze images dating to the 15th/16th century - this figure being one of the largest in size of its type - that were designed with a combination of Chinese and Tibetan Tantric influences. These figures are highly unusual in that they are idiosyncratic with their elaborate depiction of the Five Tathagatas, or the five Great Buddhas of Wisdom, in their crowns. Additionally, the hand gesture of abhisekana mudra is not commonly applied to the Vairocana in Tibetan Buddhism but was adopted in its unique Chinese form. The Vaironcana is one of the principal deities of the Five Tathagatas. It is the Great Solar Buddha of light and truth, and is the spiritualisation of Gautama Buddha in Buddhist Law.
Compare with two related examples, both adorned with a similarly elaborate crown and modelled with the same hand gesture of abhisekana mudra: the first was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 26 April 2004, lot 333, seated on a hexagonal stand; and the other without a lotus stand was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 May 2000, lot 757. The hands in abhisekana, gesture of anointing, is characteristic of holy personages and symbolic act of anointment in esoteric Buddhism.
A comparable crowned Buddha with this same hand gesture is in the Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Museum Fur Volkerkunde, Germany, illustrated in Hai-wai Yi-chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collection, Buddhist Sculpture II, Taipei, 1990, p. 185, no. 175. A related seated Buddha with a similar crown from the Nitta Collection was included in the exibition, The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, National Palace Museum, 1987, and illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 214, pl. 117.
Despite the Buddhist tantric influences, the present sculpture displays strong Chinese characteristics such as the full-rounded face and the the rendition of the incised floral design on the garment edges. The latter's floral motifs are comparable to those popularly decorating late Yuan to early Ming porcelains. The posture, drapery and proportions of the present bronze relate well to 14th century gilt-bronze figures such as the large gilt-bronze figure of the ascetic Sakyamuni, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 October 1994, lot 389 (49.4 cm. high), (see fig. 1).
The Ontario figure and the present example belong to a small group of Buddhist gilt-bronze images dating to the 15th/16th century - this figure being one of the largest in size of its type - that were designed with a combination of Chinese and Tibetan Tantric influences. These figures are highly unusual in that they are idiosyncratic with their elaborate depiction of the Five Tathagatas, or the five Great Buddhas of Wisdom, in their crowns. Additionally, the hand gesture of abhisekana mudra is not commonly applied to the Vairocana in Tibetan Buddhism but was adopted in its unique Chinese form. The Vaironcana is one of the principal deities of the Five Tathagatas. It is the Great Solar Buddha of light and truth, and is the spiritualisation of Gautama Buddha in Buddhist Law.
Compare with two related examples, both adorned with a similarly elaborate crown and modelled with the same hand gesture of abhisekana mudra: the first was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 26 April 2004, lot 333, seated on a hexagonal stand; and the other without a lotus stand was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 May 2000, lot 757. The hands in abhisekana, gesture of anointing, is characteristic of holy personages and symbolic act of anointment in esoteric Buddhism.
A comparable crowned Buddha with this same hand gesture is in the Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Museum Fur Volkerkunde, Germany, illustrated in Hai-wai Yi-chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collection, Buddhist Sculpture II, Taipei, 1990, p. 185, no. 175. A related seated Buddha with a similar crown from the Nitta Collection was included in the exibition, The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, National Palace Museum, 1987, and illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 214, pl. 117.
Despite the Buddhist tantric influences, the present sculpture displays strong Chinese characteristics such as the full-rounded face and the the rendition of the incised floral design on the garment edges. The latter's floral motifs are comparable to those popularly decorating late Yuan to early Ming porcelains. The posture, drapery and proportions of the present bronze relate well to 14th century gilt-bronze figures such as the large gilt-bronze figure of the ascetic Sakyamuni, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 October 1994, lot 389 (49.4 cm. high), (see fig. 1).