Page 74 - Indian, Himalaya and Asian Art Bonhams Setp 2015
P. 74

61

61                                                                        13th/14th-century interpretation of the classic Pala style. See a
A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF AMITABHA                                    12th-century Tibetan Shakyamuni, in the Tsug Lakhang in Lhasa,
Tibet, circa 18th century                                                 published in von Schroeder, Buddhist Bronzes in Tibet, Vol. II, Hong
Clad in a simple robe with a fish-tail pleat over the left shoulder, his  Kong, 2001, p. 1095, no. 282D.
hands resting in his lap supporting a begging bowl brimming with a
swirl of nectar; complete with removable Chinese brocaded clothes.        He is raised on a single row of plump lotus petals, suggesting
16 3/4 in. (42.5 cm) high                                                 he would have been set on a separately cast throne or a niche
$50,000 - 80,000                                                          representing a large tree or palace within the Sukhavati Heaven.

西藏 約十八世紀 銅鎏金阿彌陀佛像                                                         For a closely related contemporaneous Shakyamuni with similar
                                                                          proportions, face, and lotus base, see von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan
There are many different Buddhas represented in Buddhist art.             Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p. 457, no. 126B.
Amitabha is the most common behind images of the historical Buddha
Shakyamuni. His popularity stems from the proliferation of Mahayana
sutras of which many are devoted to him.

Of impressive scale and volume, Amitabha is rendered in his simplest      Referenced
form without ornamentation, donning the nirmanakaya (‘body form’) of      HAR - himalayanart.org/items/33023
Buddha in the most basic representation of his robe.
                                                                          Provenance
Its fish-tail pleat, but otherwise invisible hemline, echoes the Tibetan  Private Collection, USA
                                                                          Acquired in Kathmandu, early 1960s

72 | BONHAMS
   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79