A SMALL GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA

POSSIBLY KOREAN, 8TH/9TH CENTURY

Details

A SMALL GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA
Possibly Korean, 8th/9th Century
The slender, attenuated figure shown standing atop a circular domed base cast around the sides with slightly out-turned lotus petals, with right arm raised and left arm pendent at the side, both palms flat and held forward in abhaya mudra ("granting the absence of fear" gesture), wearing a short skirt falling in pleats from a thick waistband to a V-shaped border in front and back, the almost rectangular head surmounted by a low crown of hair, the face simply cast with a long, triangular nose, almond-shaped eye sockets and a small, slightly upturned mouth, the ears flat and rectangular
4 7/8in. (12.4cm.) high

Lot Essay

Compare the small bronze figure of Buddha Sakyamuni shown standing in a comparable position and wearing a similar skirt, but with the hair detailed in stylized curls, illustrated by Andreas Eckardt, History of Korean Art, London, 1929, pl. LXI, fig. 172. See, also, the standing figure of a bodhisattva, dated to the 7th century, the body slender and attenuated and the domed base also cast with a similar band of lotus petals, illustrated by William Watson, "The Earliest Buddhist Images of Korea", T.O.C.S., 1957-59, vol. 31, pp. 83-94, pl. 32(a)