Page 91 - Sotheby's Asia Week March 2024 Chinee Art

The Vairocana Buddha, understood as the ‘luminous’ or
According to Timothy Brook, many large-sized bronze
‘embodiment of light’ in Sanskrit, is a highly regarded figures of Buddha were melted down for weapons or coinage
figure in both Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. In during the mid to late Ming period (The Confusions of
Mahayana practice, Vairocana Buddha is considered the Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China, Berkeley,
Bliss Body of the historical Buddha, representing the 1999, pp 155-156). Consequently, very few large-sized
ultimate reality and the cosmic order. Meanwhile, in the bronze figures have survived today, and those retaining their
Vajrayana tradition, which is popular in Indo-Himalayan original lotus pedestals, like the present one, are even rarer
regions, he is revered as the principal figure among the and more exquisite.
Five Dhyani Buddhas, signifying the essence of emptiness
and the limitless aspect of reality. The iconography of the present piece is closely related to the
giant three-tiered bronze statue of a thousand Vairocanas
The present figure is notable for its representative style, (6.27 meters) in the Vairocana Hall of the Longxing temple
reflecting a blending of the disparate Chinese and Indo- in Hebei province, illustrated in Longxing si / The Longxing
Himalayan traditions in sculpture casting from the mid to Temple, Beijing, 1987, pp 29-30. Before its relocation to the
late Ming period. The squarish face of the figure follows Longxing Temple in 1959, this giant statue belonged to the
a clear Indo-Himalayan style, whereas the body lacks the nearby Chongyin Temple, which was constructed during the
sense of roundness often found in works from the earlier Wanli period (1573-1620), thereby dating it to that period.
Yongle period. The thick clothing depicted here follows See also a massive figure of Vairocana, acquired in North
a typical Han tradition, but the pleats are less smooth China in the 1920s, preserved in the collection of the Royal
compared to Yongle examples. Most importantly, Vairocana Ontario Museum, Toronto, on display and published online
wearing a crown of five Buddhas is a typical iconographical (accession no. 921.31.30), also captured in an old photo from
feature rooted in the Vajrayana practice, reflecting his the 1920s, illustrated in Timothy Brook, op. cit., fig. 23.
central position among the five. The uttarabodhi mudra, the
gesture of supreme enlightenment, is almost exclusively Comparable examples that have appeared on the market
seen in the Han style representation of Buddha. The blended rarely come with original lotus stands. See, for example,
iconographical features are believed to be due to the two closely related bronze figures of Vairocana, one of
widespread practice of Vajrayana Buddhism adopted at the larger size, sold in these rooms, 16th March 2016, lot 368;
early Ming court, in place of the Mahayana iconography that the other sold at Bonhams London, 11th May 2017, lot 112.
had been practiced locally for centuries. Compare also several related gilt-bronze figures, one sold
in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th April 2011, lot 3048; one, sold
at Christie’s New York, 15th September 2011, lot 1383; and
one, of smaller size, sold at Christie’s New York, 30th May
1991, lot 13.
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