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Lot Essay
The stylistic origins of this standing figure reside in the foundational lineages of classical Indian sculpture. Classic examples of standing Buddha images, relaxed in posture and gesturing in reassurance while holding the draping ends of his robes, reveal a direct lineage tracing back to a Gupta archetype. Gupta styles emphasize the transparency and weightlessness of fabric and the slender contours of the body. These features developed into a strong tradition of metal casting in the northeastern region of Bihar. This hybrid model ultimately became the quintessential standing Buddha image as Buddhism spread from India into Nepal.
This sculpture shows the full development of the dynamic figurative form evolving from Sarnath and Mathura. Comparable examples of this type held in several major museum collections—such as the Victoria & Albert Museum (IS.3-2004), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.70.17), and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (69.222)—all show the figure in abhanga, a relaxed posture with one knee bent and the opposite hip extended to the side. The full expression achieved in this small Nepalese bronze utilizes the hands in counterbalance to the S-shaped curve, which articulates diagonal movements across the body and lends itself to a gentle sway. This fluidity is further induced by two other juxtaposing elements: the drapery lines and the translucence of the entire body below the robes. This image retains the folded drapery more typical of northwestern idioms of the Mathuran school applying the wide U-shaped folds across the body, showing little density aside from the pleated edges along each of the lower corners.
The historical backdrop of the ninth century in northeastern India and Nepal corresponds to a time of profound regional trade and monastic patronage. Following the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the seventh through ninth centuries saw a continued expansion of Buddhism throughout the northeastern part of India, including Bihar, and into Nepal via the Licchavis. While the figurative shape, posture, and robes carry former Indic precedents, the facial type is characteristically Nepalese. It retains the thoughtful countenance of the Gupta influence, but where those features are prominently articulated in the previous models, the face here softens, presenting a more delicate expression. Sharing this facial modeling is another Licchavi period Buddha (Christie's, Hong Kong, 3 November 2025, lot 2020). Compare another Buddha of the period to U. von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculpture in Tibet, Vol. 1, 2001, p. 455, nos. 138B-D.
This sculpture shows the full development of the dynamic figurative form evolving from Sarnath and Mathura. Comparable examples of this type held in several major museum collections—such as the Victoria & Albert Museum (IS.3-2004), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.70.17), and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (69.222)—all show the figure in abhanga, a relaxed posture with one knee bent and the opposite hip extended to the side. The full expression achieved in this small Nepalese bronze utilizes the hands in counterbalance to the S-shaped curve, which articulates diagonal movements across the body and lends itself to a gentle sway. This fluidity is further induced by two other juxtaposing elements: the drapery lines and the translucence of the entire body below the robes. This image retains the folded drapery more typical of northwestern idioms of the Mathuran school applying the wide U-shaped folds across the body, showing little density aside from the pleated edges along each of the lower corners.
The historical backdrop of the ninth century in northeastern India and Nepal corresponds to a time of profound regional trade and monastic patronage. Following the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the seventh through ninth centuries saw a continued expansion of Buddhism throughout the northeastern part of India, including Bihar, and into Nepal via the Licchavis. While the figurative shape, posture, and robes carry former Indic precedents, the facial type is characteristically Nepalese. It retains the thoughtful countenance of the Gupta influence, but where those features are prominently articulated in the previous models, the face here softens, presenting a more delicate expression. Sharing this facial modeling is another Licchavi period Buddha (Christie's, Hong Kong, 3 November 2025, lot 2020). Compare another Buddha of the period to U. von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculpture in Tibet, Vol. 1, 2001, p. 455, nos. 138B-D.