Page 54 - 2019 September 9th Bonhams Important Chinese Works of Art

851
A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF MAITREYA BODHISATTVA
Liao dynasty
Finely cast with a tall tiara decorated with jeweled florets and scrolling
clouds flanking a central stupa and curling backwards over the tall
topknot, the sides of the tiara tied with knotted streamers hanging from
the sides, framing a full round face set with heavily-lidded downcast
eyes and pouty lips, dressed in loose flowing robes with clearly defined
folds, ending in a pleated hem above the right leg, the robe open at
the chest to revel a necklace of three florets suspending pendants, the
right hand held at chest level, the right cradling a water pot, seated
in dhayanasana on a lotus throne with two rows of petals with the
stamens filling the gaps in the upper row, all supported on a circular
stepped pedestal.
7 5/8in (19.5cm) high

$50,000 - 70,000

遼 鎏金銅彌勒菩薩坐像

Provenance:
Acquired in Japan, 2011

來源：
購於日本, 2011年

The stupa in the headdress identifies the figure as Maitreya, a
bodhisattve who will appear on Earth in the future to achieve complete
enlightenment. The stupa on Maitreya’s headdress represents the
stupa enshrined with relics of Gautama Buddha, as such, Maitreya is
regarded as the successor of Gautama Buddha.

The present figure bears many characteristics typical of Liao dynasty
gilt-bronze Buddhist figures, such as the tall headdress with cloud
motifs, the knotted streamers hanging from the headdress, the full,
round face, the elongated body and narrow leg width, the pronounced
folds in the clothing, and the distinctive lotus throne with stamens
showing between the gaps in the upper row of lotus petals.

These features can all be seen in a Liao dynasty gilt-bronze figure of
Vairocana in the Metropolitan Museum of Art illustrated by Christian
Boehm, ‘Buddhist Bronzes of the Liao Dynasty’, Arts of Asia, January-
February 2019, p. 87, figs. 1 and 2; and in a Liao dynasty gilt-bronze
figure of Maitreya in the British Museum, illustrated, ibid, p. 90, fig. 6.

The pleated hem above the right leg of the present example is also
visible on a Liao dynasty gilt-bronze figure of Amitabha Buddha in the
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art illustrated ibid, p. 88, fig. 3.

For examples of other Liao dynasty gilt-bronze figures without lotus
thrones and a discussion of the characteristic features of Liao dynasty
bronzes, see ibid, pp. 87-96. A similar but smaller figure was sold at
Christie’s New York, 18-19 September 2014, lot 1021.

52 | BONHAMS