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拍品专文
This finely cast early image of Maitreya, the future Buddha, presents a rare and stylistically significant example of Himalayan bronze sculpture from the 11th century, blending elements associated with both Avalokiteshvara and Maitreya. The deity stands in a graceful tribhanga posture, holding in his left hand an abstract antelope skin and a water flask (kamandalu), iconographic features that, though typically associated with Avalokiteshvara, appear here in combination with unmistakable attributes of Maitreya, suggesting a transitional or regionally nuanced representation.
He wears a finely detailed braided jatamukuta, the high matted chignon typical of bodhisattva figures, centered by a miniature stupa (chaitya), an unambiguous emblem of Maitreya’s identity as the future Buddha. An elegantly scalloped leaf-panel is symmetrically framed before the jata while three neatly tiered braids cascade over the left shoulder, a distinctive and carefully modelled feature.
His dhoti is tied in a characteristic loose knot at the front, the trailing ends falling irregularly across the tight-fitting garment. Across its surface are formally spaced rosette motifs, closely comparable to those seen on a seated Maitreya in the Potala Palace, Lhasa (von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, 2002, vol. II, p. 938, nos. 220A–B). Related examples are also illustrated in ibid, nos. 220C–E and 221B–C, attesting to a regional sculptural idiom in early Tibetan ateliers under strong eastern Indian Pala influence.
A closely related figure in the Nyingjei Lam Collection shares several stylistic traits, such as the posture, treatment of the jatamukuta, and gesture, but the dhoti in that example is decorated with horizontal bands, a motif more typically associated with Nepalese bronzes of the period (see Casey and Weldon, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet, p. 93, pl. 13). Another comparable example from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art likewise shows a similar dhoti banding style (Pal, Art of Nepal, 1985, p. 100, no. S20).
The face has the distinctive Newari profile of a long aquiline nose and is painted with cold-gold, and traces of blue pigment remain in the hair, confirming the sculpture’s history of active veneration in a Tibetan context.
This sculpture stands as a compelling example of early Himalayan syncretism, where stylistic and iconographic conventions of Nepalese and Tibetan art converge. Its refined modelling, restrained ornamentation, and layered iconography reflect both devotional purpose and artistic innovation, making it an important and rare survival from the early medieval period of Himalayan bronze casting.
He wears a finely detailed braided jatamukuta, the high matted chignon typical of bodhisattva figures, centered by a miniature stupa (chaitya), an unambiguous emblem of Maitreya’s identity as the future Buddha. An elegantly scalloped leaf-panel is symmetrically framed before the jata while three neatly tiered braids cascade over the left shoulder, a distinctive and carefully modelled feature.
His dhoti is tied in a characteristic loose knot at the front, the trailing ends falling irregularly across the tight-fitting garment. Across its surface are formally spaced rosette motifs, closely comparable to those seen on a seated Maitreya in the Potala Palace, Lhasa (von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, 2002, vol. II, p. 938, nos. 220A–B). Related examples are also illustrated in ibid, nos. 220C–E and 221B–C, attesting to a regional sculptural idiom in early Tibetan ateliers under strong eastern Indian Pala influence.
A closely related figure in the Nyingjei Lam Collection shares several stylistic traits, such as the posture, treatment of the jatamukuta, and gesture, but the dhoti in that example is decorated with horizontal bands, a motif more typically associated with Nepalese bronzes of the period (see Casey and Weldon, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet, p. 93, pl. 13). Another comparable example from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art likewise shows a similar dhoti banding style (Pal, Art of Nepal, 1985, p. 100, no. S20).
The face has the distinctive Newari profile of a long aquiline nose and is painted with cold-gold, and traces of blue pigment remain in the hair, confirming the sculpture’s history of active veneration in a Tibetan context.
This sculpture stands as a compelling example of early Himalayan syncretism, where stylistic and iconographic conventions of Nepalese and Tibetan art converge. Its refined modelling, restrained ornamentation, and layered iconography reflect both devotional purpose and artistic innovation, making it an important and rare survival from the early medieval period of Himalayan bronze casting.