Lot Essay
It is unusual to find bronze Buddha sculptures seated in the so-called 'European style' with legs pendent, characteristic of the Ketumati Maitreya. The origin of this seated position was thought to have been transferred to China from the Gandharan period in the 1st century A.D.. The Gupta inspiration is evident in the facial features and the style of the robe very rarely found on bronzes of this period. The posture is clearly seen in 5th century cave sculptures at Yungang and the tradition continued into the Tang dynasty; examples of extant stone sculptures are in the Art Institute of Chicago and Honolulu Academy of Arts, both seated figures are illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collections, Buddhist Sculpture II, nos. 102 and 103.
For a similar example seated in this position from the early Tang period, compare a Yungang stone sculpture of a Maitreya Buddha trinity, inscribed with a date corresponding to A.D. 704, illustrated in The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, Special Exhibition Catalog of the Buddhist Bronzes from the Nitta Group Collection at the National Palace Museum, Catalogue, fig. 1.9, p. 6. Two further Sakyamuni sculptures both carved with legs pendent, the first of stone from the Tianlong Shan, dated to mid-eighth century, now in the National Museum, Tokyo, illustrated by Watson, The Arts of China to AD 900, p. 223, fig. 357; the other is a gilt-bronze figure with feet resting on similar lotus plinths, from the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, illustrated by Hai-Wai Yi-Chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collection, Buddhist Sculpture, no. 83.
The present figure is cast with great restraint following closely on Indian models of the Gupta period. The broad shoulders and elongated torso are realistically proportioned with expressive hand gestures. Flow of the drapery is subtley suggested by fine well-defined lines and can be see on a comparable slightly earlier standing example, dated to A.D. 577, in the Royal Ontariao Museum of Archaeology, and illustrated by Sickman and Soper, The Art and Architecture of China, fig. 81, p. 123.
(US$350,000-450,000)
For a similar example seated in this position from the early Tang period, compare a Yungang stone sculpture of a Maitreya Buddha trinity, inscribed with a date corresponding to A.D. 704, illustrated in The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, Special Exhibition Catalog of the Buddhist Bronzes from the Nitta Group Collection at the National Palace Museum, Catalogue, fig. 1.9, p. 6. Two further Sakyamuni sculptures both carved with legs pendent, the first of stone from the Tianlong Shan, dated to mid-eighth century, now in the National Museum, Tokyo, illustrated by Watson, The Arts of China to AD 900, p. 223, fig. 357; the other is a gilt-bronze figure with feet resting on similar lotus plinths, from the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, illustrated by Hai-Wai Yi-Chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collection, Buddhist Sculpture, no. 83.
The present figure is cast with great restraint following closely on Indian models of the Gupta period. The broad shoulders and elongated torso are realistically proportioned with expressive hand gestures. Flow of the drapery is subtley suggested by fine well-defined lines and can be see on a comparable slightly earlier standing example, dated to A.D. 577, in the Royal Ontariao Museum of Archaeology, and illustrated by Sickman and Soper, The Art and Architecture of China, fig. 81, p. 123.
(US$350,000-450,000)