A MINIATURE GILT-BRONZE STANDING FIGURE OF A BODHISATTVA

SUI DYNASTY (AD 581-618)

Details

A MINIATURE GILT-BRONZE STANDING FIGURE OF A BODHISATTVA
SUI DYNASTY (AD 581-618)
The figure is shown standing on a stepped, circular lotus plinth with the raised right hand holding a willow branch and the left hand holding a kamandalu ('holy water' bottle), and wearing long bead necklaces adorned with 'rosette jewels'. The head is backed by a flame-form aureole surrounding the circular 'bead'-encircled nimbus.
2 3/8 in.( 6.1 cm.) high, wood stand

Provenance

Private collection, Japan, acquired prior to 1930.

Lot Essay

This miniature figure exhibits aspects of large stone figures of bodhisattvas of Sui dynasty date, such as the stiff pose and the type of 'rosette jewels' that decorate the long, looped bead necklace. For two stone figures of this type see Matsubara Saburo, Chugoku Bukkyo Chokokushi ron (The Path of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture), vol. 2, Tokyo, 1995, pl. 534 b, in the Beilin Museum, Xian, and pl. 585 a, in the Freer Gallery of Art.

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