A SMALL GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF A BODHISATTVA

TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)

Details

A SMALL GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF A BODHISATTVA
TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)
The bodhisattva is shown standing in tribangha on a waisted lotus base, with a willow branch held in the raised right hand and a kamandalu ('holy water' bottle) dangling from the left hand, and wearing a skirt folded over below the waist, bead necklaces, and scarves that fall in rippling openwork down the sides. The round face is framed by long ribbons that trail from the peaked crown.
3 3/8 in. (8.6 cm.) high, wood stand

Provenance

Private collection, Japan, acquired prior to 1930.

Lot Essay

Gilt-bronze figures of bodhisattvas of this type were made in various sizes during the Tang dynasty. This diminutive figure, with its typical graceful tribangha stance and scarves swirling in ripples down the sides of the body, is similar to one illustrated by Jin Shen in Hai wai ji Gang Yai cang li dai fo xiang: zhen pin ji nian tu jian (Catalogue of Treasures of Buddhist Sculpture in Overseas Collections Including Hong Kong and Taiwan), Shanxi, 2007, p. 503 (upper right). As with the current figure, a willow branch is held in the raised right hand and a kamandalu in the left. See, also, the very similar rippling depiction of the scarf on the figure illustrated in Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Buddhist Statues in Overseas Collections, Beijing, 2005, vol. 5, pl. 941.

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