Page 71 - Christie's London Fine Chinese Ceramics Nov. 2019

additional row encircles the base’s subtly constricted waist, separating one the sculpture’s interior from view and secures in
register from the other. Introduced to China from Nepal and Tibet during the place the dedicatory objects deposited within
Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), the double-lotus base gained popularity in the at the time of consecration in order to enliven
early ffteenth century, in the early Ming period, and would be used from that the image and grant it eficacy. Engraved at
time on for sculptures in Tibetan-infuenced styles. the center of the base plate, a double-vajra
The base of the present sculpture fnds parallels in that of a gilt bronze symbolically shields and protects the sculpture
sculpture of Tathagata Amoghasiddhi from fourteenth-century Tibet and and its contents. The consecratory objects
now in the Berti Aschmann Foundation of Tibetan Art at the Museum typically include small paper sutras and prayer
Rietberg, Zurich, Switzerland, which has a double lotus in its narrow upper scrolls, beads, textile fragments, small bronze
tier and a foral arabesque with a vine scroll encircling lotus blossoms in seals, small sculptures, and assorted other
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its comparatively tall lower tier . The vine scroll in the base of the present consecratory items xviii . Religious in nature,
sculpture also is akin to those in the ffteenth-century, Chinese or Tibetan, such dedicatory items seldom are dated and
embroidered silk panels incorporated into the mountings of some ffteenth- rarely include any information that would
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century Tibetan paintings . convey insight into a sculpture’s date, place,
The present sculpture’s slender, ring-like halo recalls those of early or other circumstances of manufacture .
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Nepalese bronze sculptures, such as the eighth-century Tara in the Lacking exact counterparts and
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collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (IS.9-1989) , the incorporating a varied mixture of styles
tenth-century Avalokiteshvara in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and infuences, this fascinating sculpture
(1982.220.14) , and the tenth-century Vak (an Emanation of the Buddha represents the Buddha Shakyamuni at
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Amitabha) in the Cleveland Museum of Art (1971.170) . Despite superfcial the moment of his enlightenment, and it
similarities, however, the halo of the present sculpture difers markedly likely was produced in northwest China
from those of early Nepalese sculptures, as it comprises a ring of lotus buds in the ffteenth century, absorbing,
incorporated into a vine scroll—echoing the lotus scroll encircling the base— assimilating, and amalgamating
whereas the Nepalese haloes feature tongues of fame. elements from the Chinese, Nepalese,
Though distant from China, Nepal and its sophisticated sculptural styles and Tibetan sculptural traditions.
came to play an important role in China during the Yuan dynasty due to
the infuence of Anige (1245–1306), a young Nepali artist who was brought
to Beijing in 1262 by Drogön Chögyal Phags’pa (1235–1280), an infuential
Tibetan monk of the Sakya sect and state preceptor for Kublai Khan (1215–
1294), the founder of the Yuan dynasty. Anige played an important role at the
Mongol court, serving as the director of all artisan classes and the controller
of the Imperial Manufactories Commission .
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In this context, it is very possible that the sculpture dates to the ffteenth
century and was made in the northwest of China, in the area that, during
Song times (960–1279), comprised the independent kingdom of Xixia, or
Western Xia—also known as the Tangut Empire—which existed from 1038
until 1227, when it was conquered by the Mongols. Encompassing the
present-day provinces of Gansu, Ningxia, eastern Qinghai, and portions of
yet others, Xixia occupied a large territory of northwestern China, including
the Hexi Corridor, also termed the Gansu Corridor, which claimed that
stretch of the Northern Silk Route that served as the most important
trade route between North China and Central Asia for both traders and
the military. As such, people, objects, and infuences from many lands and
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cultures passed through and intermixed to advantage in Xixia ; indeed, it
is said that the people of the kingdom made signifcant achievements in
literature, art, music, and architecture, their culture characterized as “shining
and sparkling .” Trade continued to pass through that area, as did people,
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art, and infuences, from Song times through the Yuan dynasty and into the
Ming (1368–1644). None of those circumstances proves that this sculpture
was produced in that area; even so, those circumstances could well account
for sculpture’s unusual features and their distinctive blend. The traces of
red lacquer on the sculpture’s surfaces further argue for a Chinese origin,
though they do not prove such, as they are not integral to the sculpture’s
manufacture. A metal plate covers the open base of this hollow-cast
sculpture. The base plate, sometimes termed a consecratory plate, conceals

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