A Gilt-Bronze Bodhisattva

LATE TANG DYNASTY, 9TH CENTURY

Details

A Gilt-Bronze Bodhisattva
Late Tang Dynasty, 9th Century
Cast seated in dhyanasana upon a waisted lotus base raised on a pierced octagonal integral stand, the hands held up and forwards in a rare occurence of vajrahumkarumudra, wearing a dhoti tied around the waist and ribbons falling over the elbows and from the tiara, the hair bound up into a topknot, the back with a short pierced flange, the gilding patinated by incense and age
7½in. (19cm.) high

Lot Essay

See Saburo Matsubara, Chuugoku Bukkyo Chokokushi Ron (The Path of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture), Japan, 1995, vol. 3, pls. 704-743, for various Tang dynasty gilt-bronze images of standing and seated bodhisattvas bearing similarities in one feature or another.
For a very similar standing bodhisattva, see Jintong Fozaoxiang Tezhan Tulu (Special Exhibition of Buddhist Bronzes), National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1987, Catalogue, p. 177, pl. 81.

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