YONGLE INCISED SIX-CHARACTER PRESENTATION MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1403-1425)

The present figure of Buddha is very similar in its modelling to two other well-known, and slightly larger examples, one in the British Museum, illustrated in Arts of Asia, Sep-Oct 1994, vol. 24, p. 84, no. 5, the other formerly in the Speelman Collection, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 7 October 2006, lot 808. Both the British Museum example and the Speelman example are set in elaborate gilt-copper repoussé thrones. It is noted that the base plates of both these Buddhas were held in place by a number of relatively modern screws which were placed through the original holes of the base of the figure beneath the lower row of pearls. Pins set through these holes and into the wooden construction inside the cavity would have held the plate in place. The pins, which would have been visible from the outside after the consecration process, are in fact hidden when the figure is inserted into the throne up to the level of the lower row of pearls. Presumably because of the weight and contents of the statue after consecration, this method of sealing was used over the one normally seen, which requires only a number of cuts in the base rim that catch the plate and secure it.