Page 32 - Bonhams Image of Devotion Hong Kong December 2, 2021

1011
A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA
YUAN DYNASTY, EARLY 14TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.4504
13.6 cm (5 3/8 in.) high

HKD450,000 - 550,000

元 十四世紀初 銅鎏金釋迦牟尼像

This handsome, softly-modeled bronze depicts Shakyamuni Buddha with his
right hand touching the ground, calling on the Earth to bear witness to his
enlightenment (bhumisparsha mudra). The sculpture is a rare example of Buddha
images created during the Mongol-ruled Yuan dynasty, a short but intensely
creative period for Chinese Buddhist art.

One important stylistic detail pointing to the bronze’s early 14th century date
is the scroll pattern engraved within the robe’s beaded borders, which was
tremendously popular during the Yuan dynasty. Here the design appears more
abstract than those seen in some other Yuan-dynasty textiles or bronzes (compare
the decorative patterns behind donor figures on the famous kesi Vajrabhairava
mandala in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1992.54), or the hems of a Yuan
bronze of Shakyamuni published in Bigler, Before Yongle, 2013, pp.92-3, no.21).
However, the scrolls are almost identical to those on an inscribed gilt bronze figure
of Dharmachakra Manjushri at the Palace Museum, Beijing, dated 1305 (see ibid.,
p.11, fig.3). The patterns on the present bronze and the dated example are both
formed by a series of tiny punched circles rather than continuous lines. The lotus
petals of the two bronzes, each consisting of a teardrop-shaped inner petal with
incised borders and a relatively flat outer petal with a slightly raised tip, are also
closely related.

Another unique feature characteristic of Buddha images from this period is the
visvavajra-filled square applied to the corner of Shakyamuni’s robe falling on
the back of his left shoulder. This is shared by two other Yuan-dynasty Buddha
bronzes published in ibid., pp.92-5 & 112-3, nos.21 & 26. Buddha’s oversized
ushnisha is also typical of Yuan style, which continued into the early Ming dynasty
(for Yuan examples, see ibid., pp.44-7 & 112-3, nos.7 & 26; for early Ming
examples, see von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol.II, 2003, p.1253,
no.344D & 344E).

Provenance
Private Swiss Collection

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