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This exceptional gilt-bronze fgure of Vairocana
illustrates the fve Tathagatas in his highly ornate cylindrical
crown. This seems to be a unique iconographic feature
found amongst the small group of comparable elite bronzes
cast under the patronage of the rulers of the Liao dynasty
(907-1125). This known group of bronzes all demonstrate a
comparable style: the fgure itself is dignifed and serene,
the gilding is fne, and they wear lavish adornments and
drapery. The style derives from late Tang dynasty (618-907)
iconography. The known group shares a specifc type of
lotus base that can be divided into two diferent shapes.
One cast with an integral lotus base supported by cabriole
legs and the other with the lotus pericarp directly placed on
a low drum-shaped base, like the current one.
The inside of this bronze Vairocana’s base is incised with
an inscription mentioning that the bronze was registered
at a local government ofice. It is known from research
that bronze as a material was rare and costly in these days.
Therefore, bronze objects were exclusive and had to be
registered before being brought on the market. Perhaps
its importance and particulary heavy weight required this
oficial government approval.
Most of the known bronze examples represent bodhisattvas
and only but a few would depict a Buddha form. Most
of the latter kind represent Buddha Amitabha. Only one
other Vairocana example, though it was described as a
bodhisattva, seems to be known and was published by A
& J Speelman Ltd., International Asian Art Fair [catalogue],
New York, 1998, p. 76. In 2006, that bronze was acquired by
the Metropolitan Museum of New York (accession number
2006.284) who identifed it as Vairocana, based on the
specifc hand gesture. This esoteric ‘mudra of knowledge’
( jnanamudra) or ‘diamond fst’ (vajramudra) symbolises the
combination of opposites, male and female, yin and yang,
as well as wisdom and compassion. However, that bronze
fgure does not bear the fve Tathagatas in his crown like the
current example.
Vairocana is the Primordial Buddha from whom all things
emanate. He heads the group of fve Tathagatas or cosmic
Buddhas, each representing a diferent mood, colour and
direction. The teachings of the transcendent Buddhas were
relatively popular in China from the Tang up to the Liao
period based on various stone and clay examples that have
come down to us.
This small group of luxurious commissions for Liao Buddhist
shrines can be dated to the eleventh century, based on a
group of over life-size clay fgures in the Lower Huayan
Temple, Datong, Shanxi Province, dated to 1038 AD. The
temple was then located in the western capital of the Liao
kingdom. Angela Falco Howard (et al.) published a picture
of the shrine in her magnum opus Chinese Sculpture, Yale
University Press, New Haven, 2006, p. 375, fgure 4.18.
Bodhisattvas of this shrine share the same proportions,
ornaments, clothes and high crowns along with several of
their gilt-bronze counterparts, including the current one.
Other gilt-bronze Liao examples in public institutions are
cited in the catalogue note of Lot 396, Christie’s, New York,
19 March 2008. However none of these cited comparable
gilt-bronze Buddhist fgures match the quality, rarity and
iconographic complexity of this superbly cast sacred image.
70 ART D'ASIE · 14 DÉCEMBRE 2016