TIBET, TSANG PROVINCE, 16TH CENTURY

The present gilt-bronze figure of the future buddha and great bodhisattva Maitreya (Tib. byams pa) was part of a larger set of the eight great bodhisattvas which would most likely have graced the shrine of a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the 16th century. Though brightly gilded, this style is a recognizable one that is often attributed to a known atelier in South-central Tibet (Tsang Province), where the easily distinguishable facial features and tightly rendered lotus petals with upturned tips in the form of small, ball-like flourishes became the dominant style. See the defining features of this Tsang workshop on a very similar sculpture at the Museum de Kulturen, Basel, (Himalayan Art Resource, item no. 3314766). The silver and copper inlay that differentiate the present example indicate the significance of this commission, as does the prayer that wraps around its base, which reads:

Homage to Maitreya,
May this virtue, for all human lifetimes,
Of the bodily support of the lotus-footed guru,
Adopt the burden of the suffering of all sentient beings,
As the Great Maitreya has demonstrated.