A HIGHLY IMPORTANT AND MONUMENTAL IMPERIAL GILT-LACQUERED WOOD FIGURE OF THE MEDICINE BUDDHA, QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

A HIGHLY IMPORTANT AND MONUMENTAL IMPERIAL GILT-LACQUERED WOOD FIGURE OF THE MEDICINE BUDDHA
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
The Buddha is shown seated in padmasana with his right hand extended in varadamudra and his left hand held above his lap, with palm upward in dhyanamudra, clad in voluminous robes gathered above the waist, the face with a serene expression and the forehead inset with a lapis lazuli urna. Below the multitude of snail-shell curls of hair painted in black and highlighted with blue pigment over the ushnisha. The chest with a concealed cavity opening at the back for consecration.
The figure: 68 in. (172.7 cm.) high; overall height including gilt-lacquered wood pedestal: 95 in. (241.2 cm.) high

Pre-Lot Text
THE GUMP’S BUDDHA
THE PROPERTY OF AN AMERICAN FAMILY

A monumental Seated Medicine Buddha
Robert D. Mowry
Alan J. Dworsky Curator of Chinese Art Emeritus,
Harvard Art Museums, and Senior Consultant, Christie’s
Having welcomed visitors to Gump’s for a half century and more, this beloved sculpture of the Buddha has become a San Francisco icon. In fact, both locals and Gump’s personnel have long and fondly said that “The gilt Buddha … is the only item displayed in the store that is not for sale.” But, no more. With the closing of Gump’s in 2018, the luxury emporium’s owners are offering this very impressive, very important sculpture for sale and seeking an appropriate new home for it.
Presented in the guise of a monk, this magnificent lacquered-and-gilt-wood sculpture represents a Buddha 佛像 as indicated by the robes, urna, ushnisha, benevolent countenance, distended earlobes, small snail-shell curls of hair, and webbed fingers. Typically represented by a painted disk or an inset cabochon jewel and often incorrectly termed a “third eye” or even a caste mark, the urna 光毫 is the curl of white hair between the Buddha’s eyebrows from which issues a ray of light illuminating all worlds 眉間光. The ushnisha 佛頂, or cranial protuberance atop the head, symbolizes the expanded wisdom that the Buddha gained at his enlightenment 菩提; it serves as the Buddha’s diagnostic iconographic feature, as only Buddhas possess an ushnisha. The gilded surfaces not only make the sculpture appropriate for representing a deity but symbolize the light that, according to the sacred texts, or sutras 佛經, radiates from his body.

The Buddha sits in padmasana 蓮華坐, better-known in English as the lotus position, a cross-legged sitting position, or asana 坐, in which the feet are placed on the opposing thighs, soles up, the right foot atop the left thigh and thus concealing from view the left shin and foot. The Buddha lowers his right hand in the varada-mudra 與願印, or gift-giving gesture, in which the open hand rests on the right knee, palm outward, signifying that the Buddha is preaching 說法 and is ready to answer prayers and give blessings. (A ritual hand gesture, a mudra—手印 or 印相—symbolizes a particular action, power, or attitude of a deity.) The left hand rests in his lap, palm upward, in the dhyana-mudra 禅定印, or meditation gesture. In fact, the combination of right hand in varada-mudra and left hand in dhyana-mudra indicates that this sculpture represents the Medicine Buddha, known in Sanskrit as Bhaisajyaguru and in Chinese as Yaoshifo 藥師佛.
Mahayana Buddhism 大乘佛教, the predominant form followed in traditional China, teaches that there are an infinite number of Buddhas, all of whom are deities. The Buddhas most widely worshipped in China, and thus those most frequently portrayed, are Shakyamuni 釈迦牟尼佛 (the Historical Buddha), Amitabha 阿彌陀佛 (the Buddha of Infinite Light), and Bhaisajyaguru 藥師佛 (the Medicine Buddha).
Like all Buddhas, the Medicine Buddha is an enlightened being who has entered nirvana 涅槃 and who shows unbiased compassion for all living beings. In particular, he protects all beings from illnesses—whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual—just as he also protects them from other dangers and obstacles; in addition, he helps them to eradicate the three poisons 三毒—attachment 貪, hatred 瞋, and ignorance 痴—which are the source of all passions, delusions, illnesses, and dangers.
The Medicine Buddha’s teachings are transmitted in the Bhaisajyaguru-vaiduryaprabharaja Sutra 藥師琉璃光如來本願功德經, best-known in English as the Medicine Buddha Sutra, which characterizes him as a bodhisattva who made twelve great vows that he pledged to keep upon entering nirvana 涅槃 and attaining Buddhahood. (A bodhisattva 菩薩 is a benevolent being who has attained enlightenment 菩提 but who has selflessly postponed entry into nirvana in order to assist other sentient beings—有情 or 眾生—in gaining enlightenment and thereby release from the samsara cycle 輪迴 of birth and rebirth.) On achieving Buddhahood, he became the Buddha of the eastern paradise of Vaiduryanirbhasa, or Paradise of Pure Lapis Lazuli 琉璃耶淨土. There, two bodhisattvas symbolizing the light of the sun and of the moon attend him: Suryaprabha 日光遍照菩薩, symbolizing the sun, and Candraprabha 月光遍照菩薩, emblemizing the moon. In temples dedicated to him, the Medicine Buddha sometimes is accompanied by twelve warriors (十二神將 or, alternatively, 十二神王), six at each side; holding spears and dressed in military armor, they symbolize the Medicine Buddha’s vows to help others.
According to the Medicine Buddha Sutra, the twelve great vows that Bhaisajyaguru made on attaining full enlightenment are
1—To illuminate countless realms through his radiance, enabling anyone to become a Buddha
2—To awaken the minds of sentient beings through his lapis lazuli light
3—To provide sentient beings with whatever material needs they require
4—To correct heretical views and inspire sentient beings to follow the Path of the Bodhisattva
5—To help beings follow the Moral Precepts, even if they previously failed in such attempts
6—To heal beings born with deformities, illnesses, or pain
7—To relieve the destitute and the sick
8—To assist women who wish to be reborn as men to achieve their desired rebirth
9—To heal mental afflictions and delusions
10—To free the oppressed from suffering
11—To relieve those who suffer from severe hunger and thirst
12—To clothe those who are destitute and suffering from cold and mosquito bites
According to traditional iconographic conventions, the Medicine Buddha, whether standing or seated, is portrayed with the left hand held at abdomen level, palm up, and with the right hand lowered, palm out, in the varada-mudra. In many representations, though absent here, he holds a single myrobalan fruit 訶梨勒 between the thumb and index finger of the lowered right hand. In the left hand the Medicine Buddha typically holds a small jar—sometimes shown as a small bowl—containing amrita 甘露, the nectar of the myrobalan fruit and considered the nectar of immortality. Given that the Medicine Buddha is associated with the Paradise of Pure Lapis Lazuli and that his symbolic color is blue, the medicine jar is often tinted blue in paintings and in painted sculptures. The slightly upturned fingers of the left hand suggest that this Buddha perhaps once held a small medicine jar.
This sculpture, which was created in northeastern China in the eighteenth century, reflects Tibetan influence. Although Tibetan imagery began to appear in the repertory of Chinese art already in the Yuan dynasty 元朝 (1279–1368), Tibetan influence on Chinese Buddhist art became far more pronounced in the Ming dynasty 明朝 (1368–1644), particularly during the Yongle 永樂年 (1403–1424) and Xuande 宣德 (1426–1435) eras, when the imperial court looked favorably upon Buddhism and made a concerted effort to build secular and religious alliances with Tibet, even inviting Tibetan monks to the capital, Beijing, to conduct religious services. In such early Ming sculptures of the Buddha, which typically are of gilt bronze, the outer the robes leave the Buddha’s right shoulder bare but cover the left shoulder and upper arm and then cross the chest and abdomen diagonally to cover the lower body and legs. Visible below the Buddha’s right nipple, the top edge of the undergarment encircles the lower part of the chest and then emerges from under the outer robe to cover the left forearm. This basic presentation of the Buddha would continue through the eighteenth century in Tibeto-Chinese-style sculptures.
Although some styles, particularly those descended from ancient Gandhara 犍陀羅, drape the Buddha in voluminous robes with copious folds, the style of this sculpture derives ultimately from that of Gupta 古普塔 India, as seen in late fifth-century sculptures from Sarnath 鹿野苑, in India’s northeastern state of Uttar Pradesh 北方邦. That very elegant style, with clinging drapery and with but few folds, reached Nepal in the seventh century and subsequently was transmitted to Tibet by the eleventh century and thence to China during the Yuan and Ming periods.
The present figure is the largest by far of the several known Qing-dynasty sculptures in this style, all of which are generally dated to the eighteenth century—variously assigned to the Kangxi 康熙 (1662–1723) and Qianlong 乾隆 (1736–1795) reigns—and are said to have been produced in the region of Jehol 熱河 in northeastern China, near Chengde in Hebei province 河北省承德市; they reflect the Qing court’s espousal of Tibetan Buddhism and its preference for Buddhist paintings and sculptures in Tibetan or Tibeto-Chinese styles. The sculptures closest in style and appearance to the present Buddha are the two representing the Buddha Shakyamuni in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (Gu849 and Gu912 / 故849 and 故912). Each measuring just 17.5 cm in height, they are much smaller than the present example; in fact, they are the smallest of the published sculptures in this style. In kindred style but representing the Buddha Amitayus 無量壽, the gilt-lacquered wood sculpture in the collection of the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, measures 101.6 cm in height (B60 S16+). The two closely related sculptures representing the Buddha Shakyamuni that sold at...