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Lot Essay
The present gilt-bronze figure of Vairocana is an exceptional example of its type, exhibiting superb casting and fine attention to detail, especially in the hems of the robes and the tiered crown. It is also rare that the figure possesses a lengthy inscription that incorporates a date, which is rarely found on gilt-bronze figures.
Vairocana, the Great Solar Buddha of Light and Truth, represents the Bliss Body of the historical Buddha and is one of the Five Buddhas, each embodying an aspect of enlightened wisdom. Unlike other Buddhas, he is frequently shown wearing an elaborate five-tiered crown—beautifully rendered here in exceptionally fine detail. Large, superbly cast gilt-bronze images of Vairocana such as this are exceedingly rare.
The inscription on the base of this figure may be translated as, 'On an auspicious day in the sixth month of the twenty-second year of Chenghua [1486], the senior monk Xingchun of the Wanshou Temple at Tianchi, Mount Lu, wished this image of Vairocana to be cast and gilt for eternal worship.’
While no other Chenghua figures of Vairocana appear to have been published, a standing figure of Shakyamuni Buddha in the British Museum bears a Chenghua inscription dating to 1467. See, Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, pp. 528-29, 150F.
Three related figures of Vairocana, but without Chenghua inscriptions, adorned with a similarly elaborate crown and cast with hands in abhisekha mudra have been sold at auction; the first at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 May 2000, lot 757; the second at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 25 April 2004, lot 333; and the third at Christie’s Hong Kong rooms, 1 June 2011, lot 3770. However, the casting of the features on the present figure, and the details on the hems of the robes, seem to be more finely rendered than those of the previously sold examples. A slightly larger figure of Vairocana (20.3 in. high) dating to the 16th century, sold at Christie’s New York, 16 September 2011, lot 1383.
Vairocana, the Great Solar Buddha of Light and Truth, represents the Bliss Body of the historical Buddha and is one of the Five Buddhas, each embodying an aspect of enlightened wisdom. Unlike other Buddhas, he is frequently shown wearing an elaborate five-tiered crown—beautifully rendered here in exceptionally fine detail. Large, superbly cast gilt-bronze images of Vairocana such as this are exceedingly rare.
The inscription on the base of this figure may be translated as, 'On an auspicious day in the sixth month of the twenty-second year of Chenghua [1486], the senior monk Xingchun of the Wanshou Temple at Tianchi, Mount Lu, wished this image of Vairocana to be cast and gilt for eternal worship.’
While no other Chenghua figures of Vairocana appear to have been published, a standing figure of Shakyamuni Buddha in the British Museum bears a Chenghua inscription dating to 1467. See, Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, pp. 528-29, 150F.
Three related figures of Vairocana, but without Chenghua inscriptions, adorned with a similarly elaborate crown and cast with hands in abhisekha mudra have been sold at auction; the first at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 May 2000, lot 757; the second at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 25 April 2004, lot 333; and the third at Christie’s Hong Kong rooms, 1 June 2011, lot 3770. However, the casting of the features on the present figure, and the details on the hems of the robes, seem to be more finely rendered than those of the previously sold examples. A slightly larger figure of Vairocana (20.3 in. high) dating to the 16th century, sold at Christie’s New York, 16 September 2011, lot 1383.