Page 32 - Sotheby's Asian Art PARIS, December 10, 2019

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IMPORTANTE ET RARE STATUETTE DU The finely cast and fire-gilded bronze represents the
BOUDDHA AKSHOBYA EN BRONZE DORÉ historical Buddha Shakyamuni as a crowned and
bejewelled sovereign, yet wearing the garments of a
MARQUE ET ÉPOQUE ZHENGTONG, DATÉE 1439
mendicant. The monk’s inner robe, antaravasaka, is
assis en dhyanasana sur une double base lotiforme, tied at the waist with the hem just visible above the
les mains en bhumisparsa mudra, vêtu d’une fine robe abdomen, and the outer robes uttarasanga and sanghati
monastique délicatement plissée, le visage à l’expression cover only the left shoulder according to early Indian
sereine, les yeux mi-clos, les oreilles aux longs lobes, monastic regulations. The Buddha is portrayed with hands
la chevelure coiffée de petites boucles retenues en un in the earth-touching gesture, bhumisparsha mudra,
haut chignon surmonté d’un bijou, le socle incise de recalling the episode when as a meditating ascetic he
l’inscription “Da Ming Zhengtong jiwei Jinchuan bei Qiu was tempted by the demon Mara and his army of spirits
Changjing juanzi ming gong zao”, non scellée and seductresses, and endured taunts questioning
25,6 cm, 10⅛ in. his worthiness to attain the enlightenment he sought.
He resisted, and reached forward to call the earth to
PROVENANCE witness his right to enlightenment. This triumph and the
Collection of D. E. Bower, London. consequent attainment of enlightenment is celebrated in
Sotheby’s London, 14th May 2008, lot 649. the regalia that adorn this image of Shakyamuni Buddha.
The statue is sensuously modelled and imbued with a
BIBLIOGRAPHIE perception of inner spirituality and calm resolve, the eyes
Douglas Barrett, ,The Buddhist Art of Tibet and Nepal’, in lost in meditation, a gentle expression on the lips and
Oriental Art, 1957, Vol. III, no. 1, pp. 94, pl. 11. the upright yogic posture. The work is an important art
historical document in the stylistic development of early
A very rare gilt-bronze figure of Akshobya, Zhengtong mark
and period, dated 1439 Ming period Buddhist metal sculpture. Relatively high
numbers of gilt bronzes were produced in the Yongle
‡ 220 000-250 000 € period (1403-1424) compared with the Xuande (1425-
1 920 000-2 180 000 HK$ 245 000-279 000 US$ 1435), in part because the Xuande emperor did not lavish
gifts on Tibetan hierarchs in the same quantity as his
forebear. This trend continued in the Zhengtong period
明正統 鎏金銅阿閦佛坐像 (1435-1449). The overall style introduced in the Yongle
《大明正統己未金川北丘昌淨捐貲命 period nevertheless remains more or less consistent in this
工造》款 rare Zhengtong example dating to 1439. The robe covers
the body in loose folds as seen on the majority of Yongle
and Xuande gilt metal statues depicting male and female
來源 pacific deities: the scalloped folds of cloth in front of the
倫敦， D. E. Bower 舊藏 elbow on the left arm are a distinctive feature of the early
倫敦蘇富比， 2008年5月14日， 編號649 Ming style: cf. this detail on the Speelman Yongle Buddha,
出版 see Sotheby’s Hong Kong, October 7, 2006, pp. 60-71,
Douglas Barrett， 《西藏及尼泊爾佛教藝術》， lot 808. The crown and earrings are related to Yongle and
東方藝術， 1957年， 第三輯， 編號 1， 第 94頁， 圖 11 Xuande models: cf. the large Xuande Amitayus, Sotheby’s
New York, March 25, 1999, p. 124-7, lot 121. Compare also
the distinctively narrowed eyes of the Xuande Amitayus.
Zhengtong period Buddhist sculpture thus remained
stylistically related to that of the Yongle and Xuande
periods. A small gilt bronze Vajradhara in the Capital
Museum with similar crown, earrings, robe style and
physiognomic detail to the Shakyamuni Buddha is dated
1436 and confirms this continuity of the earlier Ming style,
in Selected Works on Ancient Buddhist Statues, Beijing,
2005, fig. 58, see Michael Henss, Buddhist Art in Tibet,
Ulm, 2008, p. 214, fig. 36

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30 ARTS D’ASIE