Lot Essay
The dedicatory prayer to the reverse may be translated:
On the earth's copper island
The great Arhat Dus-Ldan
surrounded by one thousand and one hundred accomplished ones
(I) bow to the holder of the golden earring
May the merits of this blessing augment the Buddhist Dharma.
This figure of Kalika (Dus-Ldan in Tibetan), one of the eighteen luohans or Arhat and belongs to an impressive series of luohan figures all seated on identical thrones on elaborate textiles. Cf. the figure of the luohan Gopaka in the Victoria and Albert Museum, numbered seven on the east, illustrated by Kerr, Later Chinese Bronzes, col. pl. 70, p. 86; one seated holding his hands out to his side was included in the exhibition Kunst des Buddhismus, Staatliches Museum fur Volkerkunder, Munich, Catalogue, nos. 4; another figure depicting Bakula numbered one on the east was sold in these Rooms, 24 October 1993, lot 543; and a fourth figure from the series numbered four on the east was sold in these Rooms, 1 May 1994, lot 539
On the earth's copper island
The great Arhat Dus-Ldan
surrounded by one thousand and one hundred accomplished ones
(I) bow to the holder of the golden earring
May the merits of this blessing augment the Buddhist Dharma.
This figure of Kalika (Dus-Ldan in Tibetan), one of the eighteen luohans or Arhat and belongs to an impressive series of luohan figures all seated on identical thrones on elaborate textiles. Cf. the figure of the luohan Gopaka in the Victoria and Albert Museum, numbered seven on the east, illustrated by Kerr, Later Chinese Bronzes, col. pl. 70, p. 86; one seated holding his hands out to his side was included in the exhibition Kunst des Buddhismus, Staatliches Museum fur Volkerkunder, Munich, Catalogue, nos. 4; another figure depicting Bakula numbered one on the east was sold in these Rooms, 24 October 1993, lot 543; and a fourth figure from the series numbered four on the east was sold in these Rooms, 1 May 1994, lot 539