Page 132 - Sotheby's Important Chinese Art, Sept. 21-22, 2-21, NYC

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PROPERTY FROM A PENNSYLVANIA PRIVATE COLLECTION 清康熙 銅鎏金燃燈佛坐像
A LARGE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF
DIPANKARA BUDDHA 來源：
Richard A. Bourne Company，科德角，1981年1月10日
QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD Trocadero, Kenny & Higgins Asian Art, Inc.，華盛
the figure seated in dhyanasana on a double-lotus base, the 頓，1982年1月
hands in dharmachakra mudra, wearing a brocade-hemmed
dhoti and a shawl draped over the left shoulder revealing a 出版：
bare chest, the serene facial expression accentuated by red, 《Arts of Asia》，期12，號1，1982年1至2月，頁18
white, and black pigments at the lips, eyes, and eyebrows,
pendulous ears at either side of the face, the hair twisted
in tight curls covering the scalp and ushnisha, a bud-form
ornament atop the ushnisha, traces of blue pigment in the
hair, the fragmentary base plate revealing the original sutra
scrolls inside
Height 13⅜ in., 34 cm
PROVENANCE
Richard A. Bourne Company, Cape Cod, 10th January 1981.
Trocadero, Kenny & Higgins Asian Art, Inc., Washington,
D.C., January 1982.
LITERATURE
Arts of Asia, vol. 12, no. 1, January - February 1982, p. 18.

$ 250,000-350,000

This elegant and serene figure of the Buddha Dipankara It is significant that the present figure bears stylistic
reflects the religious beliefs of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662- similarities with a famous larger (70 cm high) documentary
1722) and is evidence of the political importance of Tibetan gilt-bronze figure of Buddha Dipankara preserved in the
Buddhism during the early Qing period. The Qing emperors’ Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence
support of Tibetan Buddhism had both political and personal (acc. no. 1989.110.62) included in the exhibition Tantric
benefits by securing a diplomatic alliance with China’s Buddhist Art, China Institute in America, New York, 1974,
Mongol and Tibetan neighbors while assuring rapid progress cat. no. 22 and illustrated in Denise Patry Leidy and Donna
to enlightenment through personal devotion to its practices. Strahan, Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist
The Kangxi Emperor left extensive material evidence of his Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
personal devotion to Buddhism, including the constructions 2012, fig. 27. The Rhode Island figure bears inscriptions in
of Buddhist monasteries and shrines filled with painted Chinese and Tibetan language, both of which attest to the
textiles, gilt-bronze sculptures, and other ritual implements. date and place of the sculpture’s commission. Thanks to
Buddhist gilt-bronzes of this period, such as the present Jeff Watt’s recent translation of the Tibetan inscription, it
example, were produced by the Qing Imperial workshops and can be read as: ‘made on an auspicious early autumn day in
are often are often characterized by a strong Indo-Himalayan the dwelling place of monks, the Dachong Jia monastery, in
aesthetic. the first year of the great Kangxi emperor’ (corresponding
Gilt-bronze sculptures of the Buddha Dipankara are relatively to 1662). The Dachong Jia monastery had been constructed
rare. Believed to have lived for 100,000 years, Buddha during the Ming dynasty and was politically and culturally
Dipankara is one of the predecessors of the historical related to the Dro Tsang Dorje Change monastery in Amdo.
Buddha Gautama, credited with setting the Dharma Wheel A similar example of Buddha Dipankara of smaller size
in motion, thus marking the beginning of the Buddhist faith. is illustrated in Buddhist Bronzes, Phoenix Art Museum,
Dipankara’s prophetic abilities are known from a jataka, Phoenix, 1969, cat. no. 12. Compare also two examples sold
stories that record events from the Buddha’s past lives, at auction, the first at Christie’s Hong Kong, 16th January
where the ascetic Sumedha, a former incarnation of Buddha 1989, lot 309 and another sold in our London rooms, 5th
Shakyamuni, offered to spread his hair and flowers on the November 2014, lot 46.
ground for Dipankara to walk on and avoid the mud.

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