Page 136 - 2021 March 17th, Indian and Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art, Christie's New York City

PROPERTY FROM A PROMINENT EAST COAST COLLECTION
~451
A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AMITAYUS
MONGOLIA, 17TH-18TH CENTURY
9¬ in. (24.5 cm.) high
$25,000-35,000
PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Europe.
Christie's New York, 21 March 2007, lot 332.
LITERATURE:
Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 24645.

蒙古 十七/十八世紀 鎏金銅無量壽佛坐像
來源:
私人珍藏，歐洲。
紐約佳士得，2007年3月21日，拍品332。
出版:
“喜馬拉雅藝術資源”（Himalayan Art Resources），編號24645。

The present bronze, with its tall chignon fronted by an elaborate headdress and
three-petaled necklace, closely follows Nepalese prototypes of Amitayus from
the same period, which in turn likely mirrored earlier Licchavi representations;
see, for example, a gilt-bronze figure of Amitayus sold at Christie’s New York,
14 September 2010, lot 64. The Mongolian political and religious leader and
master artisan, Zanabazar, was said to have imported metal image casters
from Nepal, so it is not surprising that such representations are found in the
Mongolian context.
The baseplate, with gilt crossed vajras, is typically only found in Mongolian
bronzes from the Zanabazar period, and the heavy casting and rich, vibrant
gilding are also characteristic of Mongolian bronzes from this period. A
closely-related example, with a similar raised single-lotus base and carried out
in the Nepalese convention, was sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 26 November
2019, lot 21.

(another view)