Page 92 - Bonhams Cornette Saint Cyr, Property from the estate of Jean-Pierre Rousset (1936-2021)

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RARE PLAQUE CARRÉE EN BRONZE À DÉCOR DE BOUDDHA
ET BODHISATTVAS
XIIe-XIVe siècle
A RARE BRONZE SQUARE ‘BUDDHA AND BODHISATTVAS’
DECORATED PLAQUE
12th-14th century
The surface incised on one side with three large figures, the central
Buddha figure flanked by two Bodhisattvas, one holding a lotus bloom
extending over the right shoulder, wearing crowns and voluminous
flowing robes, tied with sashes and cascading in elaborate folds, each
standing upon a lotus petal base, the reverse plain.
17.8cm (7in) x 16cm (6 1/4in).

€20,000 - 30,000

Provenance:
Robert Rousset, Paris (1901-1981), acquired prior to 1935
Jean-Pierre Rousset, Paris (1936-2021)

The present engraved bronze plaque is exceptionally rare in its As noted by Hsueh-Man Shen, ibid., pp.254-256, mirrors with incised
decoration and function. The finely incised decoration depicts the Buddhist images are literally associated with the Buddhist metaphor
Three Sages of the Western Pure Land: Amitābha stands between ‘image [reflected] in a mirror’. The reflection of images in a mirror
Avalokiteshvara and Mahāsthāma on an array of lotus blossoms. represents a Buddhist analogy with the transient and is related to the
Circular halos encircle each head signifying divinity and glory. notion of emptiness. In various Buddhist texts, the multitudes were
instructed to view the phenomenal world as an image in a mirror and
The question of the function of this plaque is intriguing and presents emptiness as the mirror itself. Similarly, while the reflected image in
two likely possibilities. The first is that the rectangular plaque, a mirror changes as the object moves, the substance of the mirror
decorated on one side and plain on the other, was used as a mirror. remains unchanged. Hence seeing a Buddha image in a mirror is
Supporting this option are a small number of known engraved mirrors analogous to discerning the Buddha. Therefore, a mirror incised
decorated on one side with Buddhist figures, two of which were with a Buddha image on the reflective side can be viewed as an
uncovered from the Yunju Temple, Beijing, dating to the Liao dynasty, embodiment of this idea: the bronze mirror stands for the Buddha’s
and now in the Capital Museum, Beijing; and another example, eternal dharmakaya (a body or collection of all of Buddha’s qualities),
dated Song dynasty, is in the collection of the in the Hunan Provincial whereas the incised Buddha image on the mirror represents the
Museum. However, all three examples are circular in form, with an Buddha’s nirmanakaya (physical manifestation), revealing itself only in
aperture for hanging, whereas the Rousset ‘mirror’ does not have an response to believers. By extension, the mirror refers to the ultimate
aperture. Yet, there might be an explanation for this – the Rousset Buddha nature, while the incised image corresponds to the mind
mirror may have been used as mirror on a pagoda to reflect the of all creatures. Therefore, incision of Buddhist images on a mirror
sunlight – this possibility is supported by the over a thousand bronze symbolises the unification of Buddha nature and the nature of all
mirrors adorning the Shijiafoshelita Pagoda (the ‘White Pagoda’), Liao creatures.
dynasty, dated 1049, in Inner Mongolia, some of which are incised
with Buddhist figures on the reflective side; see Hsueh-Man Shen, The second possibility is that the Rousset plaque is not a mirror, but
Proceedings of the British Academy, 2012, ‘Between One and Many: rather a side panel of a Buddhist lidded reliquary box, such as two
Multiples, Multiplication and the Huayan Metaphysics, 2011, pp. found in Famen Temple, and illustrated in the Report of Archaeological
205–258, pp.229-231, and 254-256. Excavation at Famen Temple, 法門寺考古發掘報告, vol.2, Beijing,
2007, pp.97 and 103.

The representation of Three Sages of the Western Pure Land was
one of the most popular subjects in paintings of Pure Land, as
demonstrated in the frescoes in Dunhuang as illustrated in Aurel
Stein’s The Thousand Buddhas: Ancient Buddhist Paintings from
the Cave-temples of Tunhuang on the Western Frontier of China,
London, 1921, pl.10. However, according to He Maoping and Ning
Qiang, the 12th century was a turning point in the composition of
Three Sages of the Western Pure Land, with the posture changing
from sitting to standing. This, in turn, provides a strong indication that
the Rousset plaque decorated with the standing figures is not earlier
than 12th century; see He Maoping and Ning Qiang, ‘From Rebirth to
Welcoming: The Reconstruction of the Notion and Image of the Three
Sages of the West in the Pure Land Belief of the Western Xia Period’,
從往生到來 迎：西夏淨土信仰對西方三聖德觀念與圖像重構, Journal
of Dunhuang Studies, 2019, no.3, pp.104-120.
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