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A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF MAITREYA
CENTRAL TIBET, 15TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4717
28.5 cm (9 in.) high
HKD2,000,000 - 3,000,000
藏中 十五世紀 銅鎏金彌勒菩薩像
Maitreya is seated on a stepped pedestal that recalls the North Eastern Pala
dynasty with protective lions and scrolling motifs on the upper edge and
supporting pillars. The frontal seated position with his feet resting on a semicircular
lotus platform is a posture known as bhadrasana (auspicious posture) or
pralambapadasana (extended legs posture), which is found in Indian art as
early as the Kushan period. In Himalayan art, the pose is usually reserved for
images of Buddha or Maitreya preaching in their respective heavens. In the major
monasteries of Tibet, such as Tashilhunpo or the Jokhang at Lhasa, the largest
and most central image is of Maitreya in bodhisattva form, seated on a lion throne
with a lotus foot rest and his hands in dharmachakramudra.
The inspired artist responsible for this remarkable bronze has employed a number
of small variants and additions to enliven this most auspicious image of the
bodhisattva. Namely the loose tresses that fall over his back are arranged in a
looping open knot and his lower garment spilling over the back of the platform in
a neatly pleated elliptical curve. The slightly waved scarves extend from the arms
to the top of the platform, where they fan out in fish-tail pleats, acting as both a
casting support and a decorative device. His jewelry and beaded swags terminate
in bells issuing inverted leaves and round gems, and armbands of lotus petals
bearing a piece of inset stone at the center of a pointed five-lobed leaf are similar
to that of the atelier of Sonam Gyaltsen (Bonhams, New York, 19 March 2018, lot
3033).
Each of the vines flanking his shoulders terminate in unique lotus and flower
heads, with the two primary stems supporting flame-like jewels. His defining
attribute of a stupa, signifies Maitreya as the Buddha of the future, here placed at
the top of his elaborate chignon surrounded by the tall leaves of his crown.
See a related gilt-bronze figure of Maitreya, dated to the 15th century, in the
Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Classics of the Forbidden City: Tibetan
Buddhist Sculptures, Beijing, 2011, pl. 51 and another in the Jokang (von
Schroeder, Buddhist Sculpture in Tibet, Vol. 2, 2001, p. 1062, no. 271). Also
compare a related yet lesser refined example dated to the 16th century in von
Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981, p. 441, no. 118D. A later figure of
Maitreya, dated to the 17th century, is in the Museum Rietberg Zurich, Uhlig, On
the Path to Enlightenment , 1995, pl. 39 and another seated on a similar base is
in a private collection in the Netherlands (see van Alphen et. Al, Cast for Eternity,
2005, pp. 200-1, no. 67.
Provenance
Private European Collection, acquired in 2001
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