SUI DYNASTY (581-618)

The figure is seated in dhyanasana with both feet concealed under the folded robe. The right hand is raised in abhaya mudra, the ‘gesture of fearlessness’ that symbolises protection, benevolence, peace and the driving out of fear, while left hand rested gently, facing upwards, on the left knee. The countenance, with its downcast eyes, expresses serene benevolence. Originally placed within a devotional setting, the figure would have been gazed upon from below, creating the powerful illusion that its compassionate gaze was directed downward upon the believer.

Compare closely to a gilt-bronze figure of a seated Buddha that is similar in gesture and iconography of the present lot, dated to Northern Qi to Sui dynasty, previously in the Jane and Leopold Swergold Collection, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 12 October 2021, lot 3507.