TIBET, 15TH-16TH CENTURY

The future Buddha Maitreya is represented here as a princely bodhisattva, residing in the Tushita heaven, from where he will descend to earth when the historical Buddha’s teachings are forgotten. Exquisitely modeled in lalitasana, or posture of royal ease, on a double lotus base, his pendent right leg is supported by a separate lotus cushion, and his hands are held in the dharmachakramudra, the gesture of elucidation. Two leafy stalks of flowers rise from the lotus base along his arms: a small kundika water pot sits atop of the bloom to his left, and the other side likely depicted a nagakesara flower, though the right stem is now missing.
Elaborately bejeweled as is fitting a bodhisattva, he wears a belt tied with sashes, a necklace with pendant jewels, and foliate armlets. His compassionate expression is highlighted by the silver inlaid eyes, and the curled tresses of hair spilling down over the shoulders support a diminutive image of a stupa at the crown. Very likely, the bronze was cast for a patron in Gyantse in Tsang, for it relates stylistically to other versions, both in painting and in sculpture, that may be associated with the construction of the famous Kumbum temple in the town during the late fifteenth century. Compare this present work with a sixteenth-century figure of Maitreya sold at Christie’s New York, 11 September 2018, lot 364. The style is directly descended from Pala images of Northeastern India, including the details such as the piled tresses of hair and the languid pose; compare, for example, with a twelfth-century bronze figure of Maitreya illustrated by U. von Schroeder in Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p. 287, fig. 71C.
The inscription running along the base of the statue says: “The sponsor of [this] statuary of Victorious Maitreya is Geshe Kurma, for the sake of the unfulfilled dream of the deceased Sherab Senge.”