Page 58 - Bonhams Image of Devotion Hong Kong December 2, 2021

An important point of comparison that confirms the dating of this wooden
sculpture is a large Xuande mark-and-period gilt bronze Amitayus from an Irish
estate (Sotheby’s, New York, 25 March 1999, lot 121). The two figures are closely
comparable in size, physiognomy, and decorative details. Specifically, both
male deities wear the same type of bracelets and armbands, consisting of five
alternating beaded bands supporting multiple leaf-shaped elements. Amitayus
and Guhyajnana Dakini also share almost identical earrings, and the short, curly
fringe tucked under the crowns of the male deities are neatly arranged in spaced
sections. The similarities between the two lotus pedestals are particularly notable –
each features broad lotus petals of rather baroque design between two recessed
rings of beading, and is supported by a plain foot. Although the tendrils appearing
on the inner petals are absent from the two main petal types that dominate Yongle
and Xuande sculptures, the same elaborate design is shared by a monumental
gilt bronze Vajrabhairava preserved at the imperial Buddhist temple, Yonghegong
(‘Palace of Peace and Harmony’), widely accepted as dating to the Yongle or
Xuande reigns (see Weldon, “A Vajrabhairava Statue in the Yonghe Gong, Beijing”,
Orientations, Vol.50, no.1, Jan/Feb 2019, pp.132-7). Moreover, similar lotus petals
also appear on a Xuande mark-and-period blue and white ‘dragon’ bowl formerly
in the collection of David and Peggy Rockefeller (Christie’s, New York, 10 May
2018, lot 972).

The elaborate textile patterns seen on the dhoti of Jinasagara Avalokiteshvara
and the Pacific Asia Museum Amitayus are rather unique, as most Yongle and
Xuande sculptures depict deities wearing plain cloth devoid of any decorative
patterns. However, it is evident that similar treatment was sporadically adopted
in other early 15th-century works. A Yongle-period gilt bronze figure of Virupa, for
example, shows closely related patterns with alternating bands of floral motifs on
his lower garment (von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, 2001, pp.1290-
1, nos.363B-C). Also see a Yongle marked Syamatara at the Museum Rietberg
(Uhlig, On the Path to Enlightenment, 1995, p.146, no.92).

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