1021
AN UNUSUAL GILT DECORATED LAPIS LAZULI FIGURE OF BUDDHA

細節
AN UNUSUAL GILT DECORATED LAPIS LAZULI FIGURE OF BUDDHA
QIANLONG

The figure seated in dhyanasana and hands held in dhyana mudra holding a reliquary jar, the face with downcast eyes and corners of the lips indented to give a gentle similing expression, the hair arranged in rows of circles above the pendulous ears, wearing a robe gilded with lotus sprays, the garment finely carved to detail rhythmic folds of the sleeves and gathered around the legs, the figure seated on an elaborate contemporary gilt-bronze double-lotus stand of overlapping individual petals, and shielded by a mandorla cast with jagged flames and decorated in relief with the Eight Buddhist Emblems, the aureole chased with bats in flight among clouds, areas of gilt rubbed
14 1/2 in. (36.8 cm.) overall height

拍品專文

By repute from the Summer Palace in Jehol.

Lapis lazuli, as with turquoise, coral and pearls, was a highly prized material during the late Ming to early Qing dynasties (see references to lot 1020). Unlike the preceding lot, a seated Buddha constructed of turquoise and turquoise matrix, the present lot is carved from a single boulder which suggests the size of raw material was substantial. The artistry is its simplistic use of the stone's natural rich colour to represent the garment, the surfaces of which is sealed with a clear lacquer substance before application of the gilding.

Decorative objects carved from lapis lazuli were favoured by emperor Qianlong. For an example of a mountain boulder inscribed with a Qianlong poem, formerly from the Avery Brundage collection now in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, see Gems of Chinese Art, no. 58; and also an Imperial table screen included in this sale, lot 856.

(US$35,000-45,000)