Page 235 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Tantra Buddhost Art
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fig. 1
Gilt-bronze figure of Bodhisattva Manjushri, mark
and period of Xuande
Berti Aschmann Foundation
© Rietberg Museum, Zurich
This finely cast sculpture of Avalokiteshvara embodies the is less lavishly decorated than the current figure, without such
sophisticated nuances of expression in the Buddhist imagery opulent jewellery.
created in the workshops of the early Ming court. The figure
radiates compassion with his downward gaze and gentle The current figure can be attributed to the Xuande period
smile - the essential quality of the bodhisattva. Avalokitesvara, due to its distinct stylistic similarities to Xuande reign-marked
known as the ‘infinitely compassionate being’ and ‘protector figures, including the figure of a kneeling Bodhisattva in the
of the world’ is the subject of the twenty-fifth chapter of the Berti Aschmann Foundation at the Rietberg Museum (fig. 1),
Lotus Sutra, in which he attempts to save all beings from the illustrated in Helmut Uhlig, On the Path to Enlightenment, The
suffering of the world. The image of the now fragmentary Berti Aschmann Foundation of Tibetan Art at the Museum
Amitabha Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, in the Rietberg Zurich, Zurich, 1995, no. 72. Both figures share the
fragile headdress of this exquisite sculpture enables a clear same distinct facial expression, with similar pronounced
attribution. mastery of movement and lavish treatment of the crown,
jewellery and robes. See also the similarities on a Xuande
Tibetan iconography and artistic traditions, partly derived reign-marked gilt-bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara in the
from the rich legacy of Newari craftsmen, had a significant Victoria & Albert Museum, illustrated in the exhibition
influence on Chinese Buddhist art of the Yuan dynasty, catalogue Ming: Fifty Years that Changed China, the British
and even more so at the courts of the Yongle and Xuande Museum, London, 2014, fig. 203.
emperors. This influence manifests itself in a departure from
the more rigid sinicised style to greater movement in the Similar depictions of elaborate festoons of jewelled chains
body, with S-curved posture, refined gestures and decoration can be found on other gilt-bronze images of Guanyin dated
of the body in opulent jewellery, as seen here. to the late Yuan-early Ming period, such as the figure from
the Oppenheim Collection, now in the British Museum,
Earlier Tibetan representations of Avalokiteshvara in relaxed illustrated by Wladimir Zwalf, ed., Buddhism: Art and Faith,
‘royal ease’ posture are rare, but a Central Tibetan fourteenth London, 1985, no. 298. Compare also the similar treatment
century bronze figure in the Royal Ontario Museum may be a of the jewellery on a Yongle reign-marked gilt-bronze figure
possible prototype. Illustrated on Himalayan Art Resources, of Avalokiteshvara, sold in our London rooms, 7th November
item no. 77540, it displays the same posture of royal ease, but 2007, lot 362.
THE HEART OF TANTRA – BUDDHIST ART INCLUDING PROPERTY FROM THE NYINGJEI LAM COLLECTION 233
