.jpg?w=1)
拍品專文
The sensuous modeling and rare subject matter of this highly important work of early Indian Buddhist art results from the convergence of post-Gandharan and early Gupta aesthetic ideals that took place in the Kashmiri/Swat Valley region during the 6th - 8th centuries. Expertly crafted during an innovative transitional period, when Gandhara's Hellenistic elements, such as highly modeled musculature, deeply pleated garments, and waving hair loosely gathered in a topknot, were gradually giving way to the supple, fleshy contours, almond eyes, and contemplative grace that characterize Gupta sculpture from North and Central India, the figure is testament to a unique historical moment from which only a small number of bronzes survive.
This sculpture is not only remarkable for its rare historical origins, but also for its large scale and particularly its highly rare subject matter and iconography. The figure depicts the Buddha at the time in his youth when he transitions from childhood to adolescence. Although he displays an adult Buddha's benevolent yet authoritative stance and facial features, here he is clothed only in a child's short dhoti with a simple straight waist and incised pleated tail, as opposed to the long sanghati in which he typically appears as an adult. His left hand forms an extremely rare mudra, in which the palm faces his body and the third finger meets the thumb with the rest of the fingers gently curled inwards, a gesture that appears in a limited number of other bronzes produced in the Swat Valley and Kashmir between the 6th and 8th centuries (see U. von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981, pp. 83, 89, 117, figs. 5I, 8E, and 15 F, G); such comparisons further situate the figure within this region and corroborate a date of circa 7th century. Further Kashmiri/Swat features include the incised brows, heavy-lidded eyes with the lidded area perfectly equal to that of the exposed eye and lower lid, the sophisticated silver inlay in the eyes and urna, rings of beauty encircling the neck, and the supple belly with a quadrant form gently articulated just above the waistband of the dhoti.
The present example shares much in common with a bronze figure of the Infant Buddha in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, dated stylistically to the 5th/6th century (see E. Errington and J. Cribb (eds.), Crossroads of Asia, 1992, pp. 213-214, cat. no. 208). Though the legs are missing in the Art Institute's work, the high ushnisha, hand position (in mirror image), silver-inlaid eyes, and style of dhoti are remarkably similar. The Art Institute's Buddha has a more childish body type, with a slightly shortened torso, less clearly defined upper chest, and a fuller face, possibly indicating that the present work in comparison is meant to depict the Buddha at a slightly later moment in his life.
The convergent aureole and halo backplate behind the standing figure is extremely rare, and its stylistic development can be traced through a limited number of surviving comparables from late Gandhara. Beginning with a 5th-century example published in U. von Schroeder's Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 2008, p. 79, fig. 3D), the halo and aureole are combined into a single backplate bordered by globular beads, with an extra bead at the point of intersection. Additional 5th/6th century examples (von Schroeder, figs. 4A, 4B, 4C and 4F) reveal that these beads become progressively elongated and then eventually form the "oval and pearl" pattern, a leaf- or flame-like projection with a bead at the base and three beads at the tip (see lot 210 for further discussion of the possible significance of the "oval and pearl" motif). In addition, the present example shows that the internal outline directly around the figure changes from being a single vine to a wider band encompassing an actual fruit-laden vine in the middle. The sole other example presently known with a similar motif is another bronze Buddha figure, circa late 6th century, in which the internal outline is filled with an elaborate floral pattern bordered on either side by pearls (see again U. von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981, p. 76, cat. no. 59, TMMA 1981.188a,b). Such portable bronzes would have been instrumental in the transmission of style and decorative motifs; the vine motif for example draws from 5th-century sculpture from Mathura, in which the halo behind the seated figure has concentric circles filled with floral vines, lotus petals, and radiating spikes (see J. Vogel, "La Sculpture de Mathura," Ars Asiatica, 1930, plate XXXVII a and b, and also M.C. Joshi, et al., The Golden Age of Classical India: The Gupta Empire, pp. 145-151, figs. 8-10).
The exceptional qualities of this sculpture combined with a sensitivity of casting at the peak of a transitional moment in the history of Southern Asian art make this figure of Buddha a masterpiece of bronze figural sculpture from the juncture of the Gandharan and Gupta periods.
This sculpture is not only remarkable for its rare historical origins, but also for its large scale and particularly its highly rare subject matter and iconography. The figure depicts the Buddha at the time in his youth when he transitions from childhood to adolescence. Although he displays an adult Buddha's benevolent yet authoritative stance and facial features, here he is clothed only in a child's short dhoti with a simple straight waist and incised pleated tail, as opposed to the long sanghati in which he typically appears as an adult. His left hand forms an extremely rare mudra, in which the palm faces his body and the third finger meets the thumb with the rest of the fingers gently curled inwards, a gesture that appears in a limited number of other bronzes produced in the Swat Valley and Kashmir between the 6th and 8th centuries (see U. von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981, pp. 83, 89, 117, figs. 5I, 8E, and 15 F, G); such comparisons further situate the figure within this region and corroborate a date of circa 7th century. Further Kashmiri/Swat features include the incised brows, heavy-lidded eyes with the lidded area perfectly equal to that of the exposed eye and lower lid, the sophisticated silver inlay in the eyes and urna, rings of beauty encircling the neck, and the supple belly with a quadrant form gently articulated just above the waistband of the dhoti.
The present example shares much in common with a bronze figure of the Infant Buddha in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, dated stylistically to the 5th/6th century (see E. Errington and J. Cribb (eds.), Crossroads of Asia, 1992, pp. 213-214, cat. no. 208). Though the legs are missing in the Art Institute's work, the high ushnisha, hand position (in mirror image), silver-inlaid eyes, and style of dhoti are remarkably similar. The Art Institute's Buddha has a more childish body type, with a slightly shortened torso, less clearly defined upper chest, and a fuller face, possibly indicating that the present work in comparison is meant to depict the Buddha at a slightly later moment in his life.
The convergent aureole and halo backplate behind the standing figure is extremely rare, and its stylistic development can be traced through a limited number of surviving comparables from late Gandhara. Beginning with a 5th-century example published in U. von Schroeder's Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 2008, p. 79, fig. 3D), the halo and aureole are combined into a single backplate bordered by globular beads, with an extra bead at the point of intersection. Additional 5th/6th century examples (von Schroeder, figs. 4A, 4B, 4C and 4F) reveal that these beads become progressively elongated and then eventually form the "oval and pearl" pattern, a leaf- or flame-like projection with a bead at the base and three beads at the tip (see lot 210 for further discussion of the possible significance of the "oval and pearl" motif). In addition, the present example shows that the internal outline directly around the figure changes from being a single vine to a wider band encompassing an actual fruit-laden vine in the middle. The sole other example presently known with a similar motif is another bronze Buddha figure, circa late 6th century, in which the internal outline is filled with an elaborate floral pattern bordered on either side by pearls (see again U. von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981, p. 76, cat. no. 59, TMMA 1981.188a,b). Such portable bronzes would have been instrumental in the transmission of style and decorative motifs; the vine motif for example draws from 5th-century sculpture from Mathura, in which the halo behind the seated figure has concentric circles filled with floral vines, lotus petals, and radiating spikes (see J. Vogel, "La Sculpture de Mathura," Ars Asiatica, 1930, plate XXXVII a and b, and also M.C. Joshi, et al., The Golden Age of Classical India: The Gupta Empire, pp. 145-151, figs. 8-10).
The exceptional qualities of this sculpture combined with a sensitivity of casting at the peak of a transitional moment in the history of Southern Asian art make this figure of Buddha a masterpiece of bronze figural sculpture from the juncture of the Gandharan and Gupta periods.