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Lot Essay
Buddhist gilt-bronzes depicted with curly hair and goatee are commonly associated with Yuan dynasty images of Sakyamuni. Compare two similar figures of the ascetic Sakyamuni dated to the Yuan dynasty, the first in the Cleveland Museum of Art, illustrated in Hai-wa yi-zhen: Chinese Art in Overseas Collections - Buddhist Sculpture, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1990, p. 171, no. 158; and the second in the Detroit Institute of Arts, illustrated ibid., p. 172, no. 159.
The combined iconography of the Amitabha Buddha in the diadem and the elaborate festoon of jewellry chains can also be found in a smaller (33.9 cm.) gilt-bronze figure in The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, dated to the late Yuan/early Ming dynasty, illustrated ibid., p. 178, no. 164. The Asian Art Museum figure shares many common characteristics with the present figure, such as the radiating beaded chains, narrow waist and flowing style of drapery. Both figures are shown seated in rajalilasana, or 'Royal Ease', which appears to have been a fashionable posture from the 10th to 14th centuries.
See, also, the gilt-bronze figure of Avalokitesvara seated in this position and dated to the 13th-14th century from the Oppenheim Collection and now in the British Museum, illustrated by W. Zwalf, ed., Buddhism: Art and Faith, British Museum, London, 1985, p. 207, no. 298, and the smaller (29.2 cm.) gilt-bronze figure of Guanyin, of slightly later date, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 5 November 1997, lot 1071.
The combined iconography of the Amitabha Buddha in the diadem and the elaborate festoon of jewellry chains can also be found in a smaller (33.9 cm.) gilt-bronze figure in The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, dated to the late Yuan/early Ming dynasty, illustrated ibid., p. 178, no. 164. The Asian Art Museum figure shares many common characteristics with the present figure, such as the radiating beaded chains, narrow waist and flowing style of drapery. Both figures are shown seated in rajalilasana, or 'Royal Ease', which appears to have been a fashionable posture from the 10th to 14th centuries.
See, also, the gilt-bronze figure of Avalokitesvara seated in this position and dated to the 13th-14th century from the Oppenheim Collection and now in the British Museum, illustrated by W. Zwalf, ed., Buddhism: Art and Faith, British Museum, London, 1985, p. 207, no. 298, and the smaller (29.2 cm.) gilt-bronze figure of Guanyin, of slightly later date, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 5 November 1997, lot 1071.