SOUTH INDIA, CHOLA PERIOD, 10TH CENTURY

細節

An Important and Rare Bronze Figure of a Jina
South India, Chola Period, 10th Century
Very finely cast and sensitively modeled in the round with arms extended alongside the body, standing on a waisted round base with square plinth, the slender torso surmounted by broad shoulders, the hands with elongated and finely detailed fingers, the face with a benign expression and large almond-shaped eyes beneath incised arched brows, the metal of a fine golden tone with smooth surface
13½ in. (34.3 cm.) high

來源

The Jina Collection

出版

P. Pal, The Peaceful Liberators, Jain Art from India, 1994, cat. no. 47B, p. 161.
Frederick Schultz in association with Peter Marks Gallery, The Jina Collection, 2001, cat. no. 9.
V. Dehejia, The Sensuous and the Sacred, Chola Bronzes from South India, 2002, pp. 212-14.

展覽

Washington, D.C., Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Sculpture of South and Southeast Asia, August - October 1994 and August 1996 - September 2000;
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Fort Worth, Kimbell Art Museum; New Orleans, New Orleans Museum of Art; London, Victoria and Albert Museum, The Peaceful Liberators, November 1994 - January 1996, cat. no. 47B.
New York, Frederick Schultz in association with Peter Marks Gallery, The Jina Collection, March - April 2001, cat. no. 9;
Washington, D.C., Arthur M. Sackler Gallery; Dallas, Dallas Museum of Art; Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Sensuous and the Sacred, Chola Bronzes from South India, November 2002 - September 2003, cat. no. 56, p. 212, ill. pp. 5 and 213-14.

拍品專文

Jainism, one of India's great religions, like Buddhism was a reformist movement developed in reaction to brahmanical Hindu traditions and practices such as caste division and animal sacrifice. The 24th jina, Mahavira, was an elder contemporary of the historical Buddha living between 599-527 BCE. Though often cited as the founder of the faith, Mahavira was considered as a compiler of teachings and practices that existed for eons. The central tenet of Jainism is a strict adherence to the principles of non-violence (ahimsa) with followers taking extreme care not to harm any living creature. The Jina, having obtained complete liberation, is depicted naked ('sky-clad'), standing in the yogic meditation pose kayotsarga (body-abandonment), with elongated limbs demonstrating his superhuman character: "The bronze illustrates the Indian genius of stylizing the human form while maintaining its inherent sensuous, tactile quality. Here, the smooth surfaces of the polished bronze remind us that the human body is the expressive vehicle of India, par excellence. (The Jina Collection, op. cit., entry to cat. no. 9, unpaged).
Chola period Jain bronzes are comparatively very rare and this "..is a highly accomplished work of an early Chola artist." (V. Dehejia, op. cit, p. 212)
See another early bronze figure of a Jina, sold at Christie's New York, 17 September 1998, lot 59.