Page 138 - Bonhams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art March 2019

913
A GILT COPPER FIGURE OF MAITREYA
NEPAL, CIRCA 11TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61953
11 1/4 in. (28.5 cm) high
$50,000 - 70,000

尼泊爾 約十一世紀 銅鎏金彌勒菩薩像

This superb casting of Maitreya emphasizes the Future Buddha’s benign demeanor.
Although equally vital to popular Buddhist practice, standing Maitreya images are rarer than
similarly presented bronzes of Avalokiteshvara Padmapani. Standing Maitreya images are
often almost identical to those of Avalokiteshvara Padmapani, but for the presence of a
small stupa at the center of Maitreya’s crown.

A number of this bronze’s elegant features suggest a c.11th-century attribution. Maitreya’s
physiognomy is sensitively modeled with supple, rounded forms, which became dominant
in Nepalese sculpture by the 11th century. Also, the slackening of the sacred cord (upavita)
below his waist, and it lopping over a sash that sits diagonally around the hips, is a
Nepalese stylistic feature which van Alphen has argued disappears by the 12th century (van
Alphen in Bonhams, Hong Kong, 29 November 2016, lot 111) . Moreover, the prominent
zig-zag folds between his legs are shared with an 11th-century Avalokiteshvara in the
Rietberg Museum (Uhlig, On the Path to Enlightenment, Zurich, p.94, no.48).

This manner of depicting Maitreya and Avalokiteshvara, standing with a graceful sway of the
hips, maintained its popularity in Nepal up until at least the 16th century. Compare, slightly
later examples from the 12th and 13th century sold at Bonhams, New York, 20 March
2018, lot 3205, and published in von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981,
p.175, no.31E; Weldon & Casey, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet, London, 1999, fig.38.

Provenance
Private French Collection, acquired 1980s

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