Page 66 - 2020 Nov 30 Christie's Hong Kong Important Chiense Works of Art

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTION
3021

A SILVER-INLAID GILT-BRONZE FIGURE ⾿Ⳋ ڊौˡ☹ 㛶㕺㘍㚣㘈㕴㏸ḯൎηচӐ
OF SEATED BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI
ϝᬝ
TIBET, 14TH CENTURY
ჺ߿㐟ᙻᇪஇ
The Buddha is well-modelled seated in dhyanasana with his hands
ד㩜ݥ㒍㑽ஶ卿ႚᏛᙼދዏࣇ卿ठᏛӴௗה㈬஠ᅴǯ㕇⚅ㄘㅝ卿ㄡ㬖ठ
in bhumisparsa mudra, wearing an intricately executed patchwork
and beaded robe over his left shoulder. The robe is gathered ⫒卿ߴⱤ・㇌ӳӴݦྉశ⋎⎱ᖃǯ⏫㧿⎊ᬩ⏟卿㫐␏ௗ㇬卿㫐৶ᇤᐱ्
in cascading folds at the figure’s shoulder and the ankles. The ⛮卿▵ካⴃ㞒጑▼ǯ⪆ௗᐹ㧩Ӵௗ卿㯝㛑ᝳӲ㙣म▼⡠卿㵶に㶂౴⻤卿
rounded face is featured with downcast eyes, and the mouth gently ⪼㶌ӳ⸥ǯ㞐㘔⁋ཪדᛓדᘰ⻱ワԋヿ→ᝬἃ჎㇦⎏Ԗ㯪卿⩧ݥ㒍㑽ஶ
indented at the corners to provide a smiling expression. The face is ᙼ㈬஠ࣇ⎏㞐㘔⁋ཪדߺᛓែࣇᄟǮཪᯜ‰⯍㇛⻦ԋ㛑஠ࢥᝬἃ᱁リ⎏
flanked on either side by long pendulous ear lobes below the hair ᆨ㎜ǯ
arranged in tight curls rising to a domed ushnisha, and topped with
a lotus bud.
14 ƒ in. (37 cm.) high
HK$700,000-900,000 US$91,000-120,000
PROVENANCE
Acquired in Germany before 1989
The present image of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, is a paragon
of the Tibetan sculptural tradition. The Buddha is seated in vajrasana,
the classical diamond posture, recalling the seminal moment when he
attained enlightenment under the bodhi tree in Bodhgaya where the
Mahabodhi Temple now stands. With his right hand, he touches the
ground in the gesture of bhumisparshamudra, asking the earth to bear
witness to the truth of his teachings. His elongated earlobes, weighed
down by the heavy earrings of his former princely life, represent his
rejection of worldly goods.
While many images of the Buddha cast in Tibet depict him wearing
a diaphanous and unadorned sanghati, earlier Nepalese models have
the Buddha garbed in patchwork robes, which was then carried over
into some Tibetan sculptures. See, for example, a gilt-silver figure
of Buddha Shakyamuni originally in the Pan-Asian Collection and
personal collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth and now in a private
collection, illustrated by M. Rhie and R. Thurman in Wisdom and
Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet – Expanded Edition, New York,
2000, p. 471, no. 227. Similarly, two silver-inlaid gilt-bronze figures of
Buddha Shakyamuni from the same workshop, both with patchwork
robes were sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 31 May 2017, lot 2804 and
Christie’s New York, 21 March 2018, lot 306, respectively. The present
figure uses inlay to ingeniously delineate the seams of the patchwork
robe, with the individual scraps incised with different foliate patterns.

detail
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