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Lot Essay
Amitayus is the Buddha of Infinite Life and the one who grants long life. He is considered as a special emanation of Buddha Amitabha and one of the most popular deities of Tibetan Buddhism. He is represented here in his traditional iconography seated in vajrasana with both hands resting on his lap in the dhyanamudra or meditation gesture. Originally, he may have held a jar containing the amrita or the elixir of immortality. Amitayus is richly ornamented with jewels and a crown, all finely inlaid with semi-precious stones. He wears a dhoti superbly incised with scrolling tendrils. Along his upper arms lotuses are flowering, both of the padma type. The right lotus is further supporting the vessel of long life topped by a small decorative finial said to be a sprig from a tree in Sukhavati or the Western Paradise. His crown is adorned with a half-vajra symbolizing the indestructible nature of the mind.
The fluid style of this very rare figure, its high copper alloy beneath the rich gilding and lavishly use of semi-precious stone inlay most probably links it to Newari craftsman working in one of the ateliers in Southern Tibet during the fourteenth century.
These Newari craftsmen from the Kathmandu Valley were amongst the highest skilled metalworkers known and were asked by important monasteries and high placed officials in countries where Tibetan Buddhism flourished.
The renown of the Newari bronze workers was based for instance on their mastery of fire gilding. Hereby the reddish hot gold fused with mercury and was applied to the copper image, creating a vibrant quality in its gilding. Newari artists worked predominantly with copper, rather than with brass or bronze. Although less durable than both other metals, the softness of the copper created a sense of vitality to be imbued into the cast figures.
The presented Amitayus figure shares many similarities to a pure Newari, Malla period, Amitayus published by M. M. Grewenig and E. Rist (ed.) in Buddha: 2000 Years of Buddhist Art, 232 Masterpieces, Edition Völklinger Hütte, Wienand Verlag, Cologne 2016, no. 139.
The fluid style of this very rare figure, its high copper alloy beneath the rich gilding and lavishly use of semi-precious stone inlay most probably links it to Newari craftsman working in one of the ateliers in Southern Tibet during the fourteenth century.
These Newari craftsmen from the Kathmandu Valley were amongst the highest skilled metalworkers known and were asked by important monasteries and high placed officials in countries where Tibetan Buddhism flourished.
The renown of the Newari bronze workers was based for instance on their mastery of fire gilding. Hereby the reddish hot gold fused with mercury and was applied to the copper image, creating a vibrant quality in its gilding. Newari artists worked predominantly with copper, rather than with brass or bronze. Although less durable than both other metals, the softness of the copper created a sense of vitality to be imbued into the cast figures.
The presented Amitayus figure shares many similarities to a pure Newari, Malla period, Amitayus published by M. M. Grewenig and E. Rist (ed.) in Buddha: 2000 Years of Buddhist Art, 232 Masterpieces, Edition Völklinger Hütte, Wienand Verlag, Cologne 2016, no. 139.