Page 94 - 2019 September 13th Christie's New York Important Chinese Works of Art

852

VARIOUS PROPERTIES
852 853
TWO GILT-BRONZE SEATED FIGURES OF BUDDHA AMITABHA A BRONZE FIGURE OF A BODHISATTVA
AND BHAISAJYAGURU MING DYNASTY, 15TH-16TH CENTURY
MING DYNASTY, 16TH-17TH CENTURY The bodhisattva with benevolent expression wears a high, peaked crown and
Both fgures are shown seated in dhyanasana, one with hands in dhyanamudra is seated in dhyanasana on top of a double-lotus pedestal, the left hand holding
and the other with the lowered right hand holding a myrobalan fruit, both a small spherical jewel, cintamani, the right hand raised in front of his chest,
wearing robes left open at the chest revealing a sash-tied dhoti beneath and wan and both are holding the tips of lotus stems bearing fowers at the shoulders to
emblem on the chest, the borders of the robes fnely incised with foral scroll. support his attributes of a book and a bowl.
6¿ in. (15.6 cm.) high 13 in. (33 cm.) high
(2)
$20,000-30,000 $20,000-30,000

PROVENANCE PROVENANCE
Acquired in New York in the 1950s. Private collection, South Saint Paul, Minnesota, acquired in the 1930s, and
Ancient Art (Leonard Kaplan [1922-2008]), Laguna Beach, California, 1972. thence by descent.
Christie’s New York, 24 March 2011, lot 1636.
The shape of the face, slender waist and treatment of the jewelry and crown
明十六/十七世紀 鎏金銅阿彌陀佛與藥師佛坐像 of this fgure compare well with other bronze fgures of bodhisattvas dating
to the 15th century, such as the gilt-bronze fgure of Green Tara dated to the
Zhengtong period (1436-1449) illustrated by Christopher Bruckner in Chinese
Imperial Patronage: Treasures from Temples and Palaces, vol. II, London, 2005,
no. 7, and the gilt-bronze fgure dated by inscription to 1441, in the Palace
Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the
Palace Museum – Buddhist Statues of Tibet, Hong Kong, 2008, p. 232, no. 221.
明十五/十六世紀 銅虛空藏菩薩坐像
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