Page 129 - Chinese works of art and paintings, March 19 Bonhams

PROPERTY FROM THE ELIZABETH AND WILLARD CLARK
COLLECTION
8166
A PARTIAL-GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF ASCETIC SHAKYAMUNI
Ming dynasty The present figure portrays Shakyamuni prior to enlightenment,
Cast seated in maharajalilasana, both hands clasped over the raised where in the quest for truth, he engaged in ascetic practices. Having
knee, dressed in a dhoti tied with a sash, the emaciated torso bare starved almost to the point of death, Shakyamuni concluded that
beneath the gaunt face with curly eyebrows and beard, the hair exaggerated asceticism and self-mortification were not the solutions.
secured with a fillet, the uncovered areas of the body accented with He was also convinced that a person living in wealth and luxury
gilding. would not be able to see things in the right perspective. It was
8 1/2in (21.5cm) high then that he sat down under the Bodhi and began meditating. He
eventually concluded that an individual who seeks enlightenment
$15,000 - 20,000 needs to avoid both self-indulgence as well as self-mortification, and
laid down the path that came to be known as The Middle Way.
明 銅局部鎏金釋迦苦修像 For a lacquered gilt-bronze example from the Sedgwick collection,
see the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition catalogue, The Arts of the
Ming Dynasty, London, 1957, cat. no. 292.

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