Page 48 - Bonhams, Images of Devotion, April 21 2021

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A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BHAISHAJYAGURU
TIBET, 15TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.16980
27 cm (10 5/8 in.) high

HKD2,000,000 - 3,000,000
西藏 十五世紀 銅鎏金藥師佛像

Skillfully modelled and thickly gilded, this impressive bronze depicts
Bhaishajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha, who is worshipped in Mahayana and
Vajrayana Buddhism to overcome physical, mental, and spiritual sickness, and to
purify karmic debt. In line with classic iconographical prescriptions, his left hand
holds a medicine jar containing nectar from the myrobalan plum, and his right hand
extends in the wish-granting gesture (varada mudra) while holding a single fruit
between the thumb and index finger.

During the Yongle (r.1402-24) and Xuande (r.1425-35) reigns, Chinese imperial
workshops produced refined gilt bronze sculptures in a distinct style, exemplified
by the widely published Shakyamuni in the British Museum (1908,0420.4), and
another Yongle-marked Bhaishajyaguru sold at Christie’s, New York, 19 March
2014, lot 1624. To strengthen secular and religious alliances with Tibet, some
of these bronzes were gifted to Tibetan hierarchs and monasteries, where they
subsequently influenced Buddhist images produced locally. The current lot is
a superior example of bronze images created in Tibet in close emulation of the
imperial style.

Stylistic parallels can be drawn between the present work and the two
aforementioned Yongle bronzes. The classic Yongle style is evident across all three
bronzes in the treatment of the robes, namely in the dramatic pleats falling from
the left shoulder, tight ruffles around the waist, and rounded folds across the legs.
Similarities extend to the plump cheeks and square jaw, as well as the elongated
lotus petals evenly spaced around the base between two rows of rounded pearls.

Although following much the same style, subtle stylistic details set this Tibetan
Bhaishajyaguru apart from imperial models. For instance, each lotus petal
encircling the base culminates in a two-point tip cradling a round jewel, whereas
those in the Yongle examples end in a three-point curl. The robes of the Tibetan
figure are also afforded slightly thicker folds with harder edges, as if made of a
heavier, warmer, less silky material. Additionally, his right shoulder is covered by the
robe, a detail absent from the Yongle or Xuande bronzes, but more commonly seen
in Ming pieces produced later in the 15th century (see Buddhist Statues of Tibet,
Hong Kong, 2003, p.235, no.224; and Sotheby’s, Paris, 15 December 2016, lot
129).

Also see another Yongle-inspired Tibetan bronze, ungilded and not as faithful to the
imperial style, sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 29 November 2016, lot 124.

46 | BONHAMS