SUI DYNASTY (AD 581-618)

Details

A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF A BODHISATTVA
SUI DYNASTY (AD 581-618)
The slender figure is shown standing on a double-lotus pedestal base holding an elixir bottle in the pendent right hand and with left hand raised. The figure wears a dhoti that falls in crisp folds to the tops of the bare feet, a long scarf draped over the arms that trails down the sides of the base, and is richly adorned in beaded jewelry. The hair is drawn up into a topknot above a fillet tied at the sides with trailing ribbons. The somewhat concave back is plain, as is the flat back of the base which is inscribed with an inscription. A pierced double tenon for attachment of a mandorla projects from the back.
7 1/8 in. (18.2 cm.) high

Provenance

Nitta Collection, Japan, acquired before 2000.

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

Lot Essay

The inscription on back of the figure includes the date, 1st day, 8th month, 2nd year of the Da Ye reign (corresponding to AD 606), followed by the name of the donor, Peng Zi[].

This elegant figure is similar in the type of tribhanga pose, clothing and jewelry, and the shape of the face and facial features, to a bronze figure of a bodhisattva, also dated to the Sui dynasty, in the collection of Mr. Hosokawa, Tokyo, illustrated by H. Munsterberg in Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, Vermont/Tokyo, 1967, no. 50.

More from Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art

View All