TWO RARE GILT-WOOD FIGURES OF BUDDHA, ONE SAKYAMUNI, THE OTHER BHAISAJYAGURU BUDDHA

MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)

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TWO RARE GILT-WOOD FIGURES OF BUDDHA, ONE SAKYAMUNI, THE OTHER BHAISAJYAGURU BUDDHA
MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
Both shown seated in vajrasana, Sakyamuni with his hands in dhyana mudra, the gesture of absolute balance of meditation, while Bhaisajyaguru, or the medicine Buddha, is shown with right hand resting on his thigh with the palm facing out in varada mudra, the gesture of granting wishes, and the left hand in dhyana mudra, both wearing priest's robes that fall in soft folds around the body and fanned out in front, the face of each with small mouth, straight thin nose, half open eyes below arched brows and a small urna in the forehead, the hair dressed in tight curls which cover the usnisa below the gilt cintimani finial
20 in. (50.9 cm.) (2)

Lot Essay

Very similar treatment of the face, hair, body and robes can be found on a small (19.5 cm. high) figure of the seated Buddha dated to the Yongle period illustrated by R. D. Jacobsen, Appreciating China, Gifts from Ruth and Bruce Dayton, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, p. 95, no. 49. Like the present figures, the Minneapolis figure, which is carved from sandalwood, is covered in red lacquer and decorated in gilding. Similar treatment of the robes can also be found on another small (8½ in. high) lacquered and gilded wood figure of the seated Buddha illustrated by A. Priest, Chinese Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1944, pl. CXXVI, no. 75. A prayer written on a piece of silk found inside the figure was inscribed with a date corresponding to 1411.

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