Page 72 - Bonhams FINE CHINESE ART London November 2 2021

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A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AMITAYUS
Tibet, 16th century
Finely cast seated crossed-legged on a double-lotus pedestal with
the hands in dhyana mudra holding the eternal vase, his benign face
flanked by a pair of long pendulous ears and centred by a raised urna,
the head and domed ushnisha covered with tight curls and topped
with a knop, wearing a robe adorned with an incised pattern draped
across his left shoulder.
18.8cm (7 1/2in) high.
£18,000 - 24,000
CNY160,000 - 210,000
十六世紀 銅鎏金無量壽佛像

Amitayus is one of the most popular meditational deities in Vajravana
Buddhism where he is highly revered for his longevity attributes, pure
perception and awareness of the emptiness of phenomena. According
to the ‘Larger Sūtra of Immeasurable Life’, compiled during the 1st
or 2nd century AD, the infinite merits possessed by the deity resulted
from the performance of good deeds in his past lives as a bodhisattva
named Dharmakara. Having attained Enlightenment, the deity resided
in the wondrous realm of Sukhavati.

Compare with a related gilt-bronze figure of Amitayus, 16th century,
wearing a more elaborate tiara but adorned in a similar way as the
present example, illustrated by U.von Schroeder in Indo-Tibetan
Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p.440, fig.118b.

A related gilt copper-alloy figure of Amitayus, Tibet, 16th century, was
sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 26 November 2019, lot 10.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
70 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.