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Lot Essay
This very rare gilt-bronze figure of Vairocana illustrates the five Tathagatas in his cylindrical crown festooned with ribbons, a unique iconographic feature found amongst the small group of comparable elite bronzes cast under the patronage of the rulers of the Liao dynasty (907-1125). This known group of bronzes all demonstrate a comparable style that is derived from late Tang dynasty (618-907) iconography, with rounded face with dignified and serene expression, the fine gilding, and lavish adornments and drapery. Most of the known bronze examples represent bodhisattvas and only a few would depict a Buddha form, majority of which would represent Buddha Amitabha, with only a few known Vairocana examples.
One distinctive iconography of Vairocana is the hand gesture as presented by the present lot. This esoteric ‘mudra of knowledge’ (janamudra) or ‘diamond fist’ (vajramudra) symbolises the combination of opposites, male and female, yin and yang, as well as wisdom and compassion. According to Denise Patry Leidy and Donna Strahan in Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, such hand gesture is commonly used by Vairocana when being depicted as the central divinity of a Vajradhatu mandala (Diamond Realm), a tantric aspect of Buddhism developed in India in the preceding centuries. Leidy also notes that the distinctive, tall crown with lotus embellishments, followed those worn by the Liao rulers.
For other gilt-bronze figures of Vairocana from this period, compare with two examples of similar size: one is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (object number 2006.284) (fig. 1); the other, finely cast with more elaborate details, was sold at Christie’s Paris, 14 December 2016, lot 53 (fig. 2). Compare also with a smaller and less intricate example sold at Christie’s New York, 17-18 March 2016, lot 1408.
One distinctive iconography of Vairocana is the hand gesture as presented by the present lot. This esoteric ‘mudra of knowledge’ (janamudra) or ‘diamond fist’ (vajramudra) symbolises the combination of opposites, male and female, yin and yang, as well as wisdom and compassion. According to Denise Patry Leidy and Donna Strahan in Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, such hand gesture is commonly used by Vairocana when being depicted as the central divinity of a Vajradhatu mandala (Diamond Realm), a tantric aspect of Buddhism developed in India in the preceding centuries. Leidy also notes that the distinctive, tall crown with lotus embellishments, followed those worn by the Liao rulers.
For other gilt-bronze figures of Vairocana from this period, compare with two examples of similar size: one is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (object number 2006.284) (fig. 1); the other, finely cast with more elaborate details, was sold at Christie’s Paris, 14 December 2016, lot 53 (fig. 2). Compare also with a smaller and less intricate example sold at Christie’s New York, 17-18 March 2016, lot 1408.