MING DYNASTY, 16TH-17TH CENTURY

According to the entry for the present figure in Buddhist Images in Gilt Metal, Taipei, 1993, p. 150, “Jiayezunzhe, Kasyapa, is the most famous of Sakyamuni’s ten disciples. He was an obedient follower who accepted his master’s clothes after his death in Kukkutapada. After this Kasyapa continued to teach and spread Buddhism in preparation for the coming of the fifth and future Buddha, Maitreya. He died wearing Sakyamuni’s clothes.”

Depicted as an elderly monk wearing long, loose robes and with eyes lowered in contemplation, the current figure of Kasyapa holds his hands in front of his chest, his right hand placed over the folded left hand and tips of both index fingers touching in abhisekana mudra, a gesture of anointment in esoteric Buddhism.