A FINE AND IMPRESSIVE SINO-TIBETAN GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI

Qing Dynasty, 18th Century

清十八世紀 銅鎏金釋迦牟尼佛坐像

Crisply cast to depict Buddha Shakyamuni seated atop a double lotus base in dhyana sana, his right hand touching the ground in bhumisparsha mudra and his left resting atop his lap in dhyana mudra, dressed in a simple dhoti slung across his shoulder revealing the bare torso beneath and cascading into elegant folds below his feet, his face with a serene expression flanked by a pair of pendulous earlobes, the hair tightly coiled and piled onto the high usnisa, the baseplate incised with a visravajra

38.5cm high

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PROVENANCE:

Formerly in a Belgian Private Collection, purchased in the 1970s (by repute)

來源：

比利時私人舊藏，購於1970年代（傳）

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NOTE:

The Qianlong emperor, like his father and grandfather before him, was noted for his respect of earlier aesthetics and customs. As a minority Manchu ruler in Han-majority China, the early Qing dynasty utilised this adherence as a means of solidifying the link to the preceding dynasties, therefore consolidating power by continuing the Mandate of Heaven. During the 18th century many innovations in the imperial kilns involved the reimagining ancient forms and glazes, and this fine example of a gilt-bronze Buddha also sees a harkening back to the masterful figures of the Yongle period during the preceding Ming Dynasty.

See a comparable figure with a Yongle six-character mark and being of the period, sold at Bonhams New Bond Street, Fine Chinese Art, 18 May 2023, lot 40, for an example of the crisp casting and detailed facial features shared with the later bronze figure offered here, although being of a smaller size.

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