Page 26 - Bonhams Presencer Buddhist Art Collection Oct. 2 2018

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A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA
SRI LANKA, LATE ANURADHAPURA PERIOD,
8TH/9TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61624
10.3 cm (4 in.) high

HK$400,000 - 600,000
斯里蘭卡 阿努拉德普勒時代晚期 八/九世紀 銅鎏金佛坐像

This solid-cast bronze depicts the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni,
seated with both hands in his lap in a gesture of meditation. As
Tibet is credited for the survival of Vajrayana Buddhism, Sri Lanka is
credited for the survival of Theravada Buddhism after Muslim invasions
leveled Indian monasteries by the 13th century. Sri Lankan monks,
its texts, and its Buddha images were pivotal in Theravada’s spread
throughout Southeast Asia thereafter. The Theravada vehicle focuses
on Shakyamuni’s life and teachings. Sri Lankan Buddha images are
confident and powerful, conveying his spiritual authority with broad
shoulders.

Most seated Buddha images from the late Anuradhapura period
(c.432-993) portray Shakyamuni in meditation, with his eyes half
closed. From 8th century onwards, several stylistic features became
common in Sri Lankan Buddha sculptures, including the flame
(sirispata) on top of his ushinisha, the shawl (sanghati), and the visible
hem of the robe hanging down from the shoulder across the forearm
to the thigh. All of these characters are evident in the present bronze
and thus place it in the late Anuradhapura period. Compare with Pal,
Sensuous Immortals, Los Angeles, 1977, p.154, no.91A; Lerner,
Flame and the Lotus, New York, p.46, no.13; and Pal, Light of Asia,
Los Angeles, 1984, p.217, no.101.

It was during the late Anuradhapura period that Sinhalese artist began
to cast images of all sizes solidly. According to John Listopad, this was
related to prohibitions from making hollow deity images in the Hindu
silpasastra tradition of South India (see, Guardian of the Flame: Art of
Sri Lanka, Phoenix, 2003, pp.45-6).

Provenance
Herbert Stone Collection, Harlow, 1979/80
Sotheby’s, London, 23 November 1987, lot 100

24 | BONHAMS