A WHITE MARBLE FIGURE OF A BUDDHA
PROPERTY OF AN ASIAN COLLECTOR
A WHITE MARBLE FIGURE OF A BUDDHA

TANG DYNASTY OR LATER

Details
A WHITE MARBLE FIGURE OF A BUDDHA
TANG DYNASTY OR LATER
The Buddha is seated in pralamba-padasana on a low throne, the sides inset with diminutive musicians, his feet supported by two lotus blossoms, with his right hand in varada mudra and his left in abhaya mudra, clad in a diaphanous sanghati with cascading folds, the face with serene expression and the hair in tight curls over the ushnisha.
24 3/4 in. (62.9 cm.) high, stand
Provenance
The Collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, New York, before 1996
Sold at Christie’s New York, The Collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth Part IV: Chinese Works of Art: Metalwork, Sculpture and Early Ceramics, 20 March 2015, lot 760

Brought to you by

Marco Almeida (安偉達)
Marco Almeida (安偉達) SVP, Senior International Specialist, Head of Department & Head of Private Sales

Lot Essay

The present figure likely represents the Future Buddha, Maitreya, who in the Chinese context is often represented in the so-called 'Western' pose, seated on a throne with both feet pendent. In contrast to representations of Maitreya as a bodhisattva, where he is adorned in princely garb and jewels, Maitreya Buddha wears simple robes. According to Mahayana Buddhism, Maitreya will descend from the Tushita Heaven when Shakyamuni's teachings of the dharma have died out, and eventually become the Future Buddha, initiating a new era of peace and prosperity. As a deity, Maitreya was extremely popular in China from the 4th through 8th centuries, when internecine strife in China led many to believe the time was right for his arrival. For a closely related, though much weathered, example in the Musée Cernuschi, see O. Sirén, Chinese Sculpture: From the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, vol. II, 1925, (1998 ed.), pl. 529 A.

More from Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art

View All
View All