A Gilt-Bronze Figure of a Bodhisattva

(14TH CENTURY)

Details

A Gilt-Bronze Figure of a Bodhisattva
(14th Century)
Single-cast, the figure seated on a tall, hexagonal lotus platform before a pointed and pierced mandorla, the front half of the lotus support for the figure covered by the falling, pleated drapery and the back half visible behind the base of the mandorla; the figure cast with squarish face below a tall crown framed by pendulous ears with circular stud earrings and tightly coiled rows of hair, and wide bands at the edges of the drapery ornamented with x-shaped florets border an open rectangle at the chest; the pose of the figure lalitasana (relaxation), with right leg folded on the lotus dais and the left leg hanging, the foot supported by a lotus, the right hand raised with thumb upright and ring finger bent forward, the left arm bent at the elbow and held across the waist, the hand cupped slightly with middle finger raised; traces of red pigment on front of figure, more evident along the back
201/8in. (51.1cm.) high

Exhibited

Osaka, Matsuzakaya Department Store, Nihonbashi, "Chosen kogei kenkyukai zuroku," 1935.11.30--12.5

Lot Essay

PUBLISHED:
Tanabe Koji, ed., Chosen kogei kenkyukai zuroku (Catalogue of the Korean-art research society), exh. cat. (Osaka: Matsuzakaya Department Store, 1935), pl. 22.
Showa 16.10.15--Showa 16.10.20 [exhibitions], vol. 4 of Chosen kogei tenrankai zuroku (Catalogue of exhibitions of Korean Art) [reprint of the exh. cat. above] (Tokyo: Toyo Keizai Nipposha, 1984), no. 168.

The figure may be Avalokiteshvara, intended as the left figure in an Amitabha triad with the bodhisatttva Ksitigarbha on the right. A Ksitigarbha reminiscent of this figure is published in Korai Richo no bukkyo bijutusu-den (Study of Korean Koryo-Dynasty Buddhist Art) (Yamaguchi City: Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum, 1997), no. 48. For an early Choson Amitabha triad in the Cleveland Museum of Art see Hongnam Kim, The Story of a Painting (New York: The Asia Society Galleries, 1991), fig. 8, cat. no. 4.

The results of Thermoluminescence Analysis Report no. N100u62 (2000.7.25) by Oxford Authentication, Ltd. are consistent with the dating of this lot.

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