LIAO DYNASTY (907-1125)

The mudra of the right hand, which is an eccentric variant of the vitarka mudra, representing augmentation of the Doctrine, can also be seen in a larger gilt-bronze figure of Maitreya in the guise of a bodhisattva (20.2 cm.) in the collection of the British Museum illustrated by W. Zwalf, ed., Buddhism, Art and Faith, London, 1985, p. 204, no. 294. The authors note that this variation of the vitarka mudra is seen in several figures found in the Bojiajiao libray hall, constructed in 1038 at the Lower Huayan temple, Datong, Shanxi province. This mudra is evident in a large central figure of Buddha shown in a photograph of the Xia Huayan temple, illustrated by M. L. Gridley, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture Under the Liao, New Dehli, India, 1993, p. 72 (bottom). Two other small gilt-bronze figures of Liao date stylistically similar to the present figure are also illustrated by Gridley, op. cit., p. 95, fig. 136 (Buddha) and p. 109, fig. 152 (a bodhisattva in the Shanghai Museum). Each figure holds the right hand in the same mudra, and the base of the Shanghai figure is very similar to that of the present figure.