A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA AS AN...

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A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA AS AN ASCETIC
CHINA, YUAN DYNASTY
28 cm (11 in.) high
Published
Meinrad Maria Grewenig & Eberhard Rist (eds.), Buddha: 2000 Years of Buddhist Art, 232 Masterpieces, Völklingen, 2016, pp. 38 & 180-1, no. 63.

Exhibited
Buddha: 2000 Years of Buddhist Art, 232 Masterpieces, Völklingen, 24 June 2016 — 19 February 2017.

Provenance
Eskenazi Ltd., London, 1980s

銅鎏金釋迦牟尼苦修像
元

著錄
Meinrad Maria Grewenig 及 Eberhard Rist 編，《Buddha：2000 Years of Buddhist Art，232 Masterpieces》，弗爾克林根，2016年，頁38及頁180-1，編號63

展覽
「 Buddha：2000 Years of Buddhist Art，232 Masterpieces 」，弗爾克林根，2016年6月24日至2017年2月19日

來源
Eskenazi Ltd， 倫敦，二十世紀八十年代

This figure is exceedingly rare, with the most similar comparable example is a gilt-bronze Ascetic Shakyamuni, Yuan dynasty, early 1300s, preserved in the Cleveland Museum of Art (fig. 1; 1966.116), illustrated in The Cleveland Museum of Art, Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966, p. 261; 1969, p. 261; 1978, p. 345; and exhibited in Cleveland Museum of Art, Chinese Art Under the Mongols: The Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), 2 October – 24 November 1968; Asia House, New York, 16 January – 2 March 1969; as well as Cleveland Museum of Art, Asian Autumn: Masterpieces from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, 17 September 1991 – 5 January 1992.

As noted by the Cleveland Museum, the exceptional fine workmanship of the Cleveland Museum Buddha Shakyamuni as an Ascetic strongly points to it having been made in the official workshops under imperial auspices. Close comparison between the Cleveland Museum and Speelman figures clearly demonstrates that both were almost certainly produced by the same workshop. This is evident in the similarities of the modelling and poise, the form of the stepped rounded stand on which the Buddha seats, the delicate and highly refined style of the decorative floral scrolls, the folds of the robe, and the treatment of the facial features – all of which are highly distinct.

Closely related figures were also made during the Yuan dynasty in other media, such as wood; see a gilt wood and gesso figure of Buddha as an ascetic, Yuan dynasty, in the British Museum, London (1969,0722.1); another in the Birmingham Museum of Art (1979.316); a further gilt-lacquered wood figure, Yuan dynasty, is in the Princeton University Art Museum (y1972-16); and see a gilt-lacquered wood figure, Yuan dynasty, late 13th/early 14th century, in the Detroit Institute of Arts, (fig. 2; 29.172); a small wood sculpture is in the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University (90.031). For a final gilt-lacquered wood figure of Buddha as an ascetic, Yuan dynasty, see O. Siren, Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, vol. II, London, 1925, pl. 620.

Related Buddhist figures with similar facial expressions are also well documented in paintings attributed to the Yuan dynasty. See, for example, in the collection of the Princeton University Art Museum, a painting depicting Buddha as an Ascetic (fig. 3; y1946-177); in the collection of the Palace Museum Taipei, a painting depicting Avalokiteshvara (K2A002068N000000000PAA) and another of Manjushri (K2A002066N000000000PAA); and also a painting of Buddha Shakyamuni, Yuan dynasty, in the Cleveland Museum of Art (1987.75).

Prince Siddhārtha Gautama at the age of 29 renounced his position and wealth, leaving his home to seek enlightenment. He studied under Arada Kalama, gaining 'the attainment of nothingness,' and then became a student of the master Udraka Ramaputra, learning how to suppress his desires. However, neither addressed the problem of suffering, nor could satisfy him. So, the Buddha-to-be subjected himself to harsh ascetic discipline, austerity, and severe fasting, wishing to purify and expunge all worldly desires and defilements, transcending all attachment to the physical world. According to a popular version, seeing his condition, a milkmaid mistakes him for a tree spirit and offers him some milk rice, which he accepts. Feeling revived, he embraces the 'Middle Way' between extreme asceticism and materialist hedonism. He then goes on to the village of Bodh Gaya where he seats himself on a bed of grass beneath a Bodhi tree and vows to remain there until he understands the means of living without suffering, pursuing enlightenment, and finally achieving Buddhahood through it.

The Yuan dynasty visualisation of Buddha as an ascetic, is represented in the Speelman and Cleveland Museum figures, most clearly in the emaciated legs and feet, showing tendons, sinews and muscles, in the forearms and elongated hands, but also in the folds of the robe tightly drawn across the body. This is rather in contrast to the much more skeletal representation which can be seen in Gandharan art, such as the schist figure of fasting Buddha Shakyamuni, Gandhara, 3rd-5th century, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1987.218.5). The Speelman and Cleveland Museum figures, depict a richly attired Buddha further enhanced by the rich gilt surface, testament to his Princely heritage, which is therefore even more powerfully juxtaposed with the wasted body underneath. The representation is subtler, as the bare legs and forearms leave the beholder to imagine the emaciated state of the contemplative garbed figure.

The Speelman and Cleveland Museum figures of Buddha as an ascetic are sculptural masterpieces. This is achieved through the visual contrast of the vertical front left leg set before the horizontal right leg, which superbly in the Speelman example, is then beautifully framed by the crescent-shaped tail of the robe. In both sculptures, the forward left foot slightly protrudes over the rounded step, contributing to the liveliness and three-dimensionality of the figure, as well as again contrasting a straight line against a rounded one, pleasing the eye. The elongated hands and peaceful meditative expression complete what can only be described as the work of a master.

此尊迦牟尼佛苦修像極為罕見，與之可比的是一尊位於克利夫蘭藝術博物館的元代十四世紀初銅鎏金像（圖1；1966.116），著錄於克利夫蘭藝術博物館手冊（1966年，頁261； 1969年，頁261； 1978年，頁345），並曾於克利夫蘭藝術博物館「Chinese Art Under the Mongols: The Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)」（1968年10月2日至11月24日）、紐約亞洲之家（1969年1月16日至3月2日）、克利夫蘭藝術博物「Asian Autumn：Masterpieces from the Collection」（1991年9月17日至1992年1月5日）中展出。

正如克利夫蘭博物館所述，館藏釋迦牟尼佛苦修像的精湛工藝指向其極有可能於皇家支持的官方工坊中製作完成。將此克里夫蘭館藏造像與Speelman所藏之例相比較，幾乎可肯定二者由同一工坊製作：佛陀造型神態、佛坐圓台之樣式、纏枝花卉紋飾之精美風格、袈裟褶皺、五官處理等方面皆表現出極相似之處。

元代亦有使用其它材料製作的相似人物像，例如木像，可參考一尊元代鎏金佛陀苦修木像，藏於倫敦大英博物館（1969,0722.1）；一件位於伯明罕藝術博物館（1979.316）；一尊元代漆金木像，現藏於普林斯頓大學藝術博物館（y1972-16）；元代十三世紀末或十四世紀初漆金木像，位於底特律藝術學院（圖2；29.172）；一件小型木像，於康乃爾大學赫伯特‧約翰遜藝術博物館內（90.031）。此外亦有一件元代漆金佛陀苦修像，可參閱 O. Siren著《Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century》，卷二，倫敦，1925年，圖版620。

具有類似面部表情的相關佛教人物在元代繪畫中亦多有出現。例如，普林斯頓大學藝術博物館收藏的一幅描繪佛陀苦修的畫作（圖3；y1946-177），台北故宮博物院藏觀世音菩薩像（K2A002068N000000000PAA）與文殊菩薩像（K2A002066N000000000PAA），以及一幅釋迦牟尼像，藏於克里夫蘭藝術博物館（1987.75）。

悉達多·喬達摩王子二十九歲之時捨己之地位與財富，離開家鄉，尋求開悟。他師從阿羅邏伽藍，達「無所有處定」之境，后跟隨鬱頭藍弗修行，達「非想非非想處天」。然而，這些既沒有使悉達多解脫困苦，亦不能令他滿意。因此，這位未來佛陀遵循嚴酷的戒律，苦行齋戒，希望淨化消除世間一切慾望與煩惱，超越對物質世界的萬種執著。據説，一位牧羊女看到他的情況，誤認為他是樹精，並送予他一些乳糜。他感到自己重獲新生，另闢蹊徑於一條極端禁慾主義和物質享樂主義之間的「中道」。然後，他前往菩提伽耶，於菩提樹下舖設吉祥草，跏趺而座，發願留在此地絕不起身，直到開悟得無苦的生活之道，證得佛果。

元代將佛陀描繪為苦修者的形象，在此尊Speelman珍藏與克利夫蘭博物館館藏中均有體現，其最顯著之處在於枯瘦腿腳上清晰的筋脈與肌肉，以及前臂和細長的手，亦體現在長袍裹身的褶皺中。這與犍陀羅藝術中更為形銷骨立的表現形式構成鮮明對比，例如紐約大都會藝術博物館館藏三至五世紀犍陀羅片岩齋戒佛陀像（1987.218.5）。兩尊元代佛陀像衣著華麗，其表面明亮的鎏金更增非凡氣質，示其出身王室，與衣著下枯敗的身軀並置，充滿張力。更為微妙的是，裸露的雙腿與前臂，給予觀者時空以想像此位沉思之人的憔悴之景。

Speelman珍藏與克利夫蘭博物館館藏之苦修像皆為無可爭議的傑作，更體現在其作為雕塑本身之美感。釋迦牟尼左腿豎直，與水平的右腿垂直，形成視覺對比——此種效果的實現在Speelman藏品中尤為出色：因為長袍新月形的尾部襯托，為造像之極美。兩件藏品中，佛陀左腳皆略伸出於圓台之外，豐富了人物的生動與立體感，同時令人像的豎直感與底座之弧綫形成對比，賞心悅目。佛陀雙手修長，冥想之中神情寧靜，使造像神韻更為渾然天成，令人嘆為大師之傑作。

For the figures listed in this essay, please refer to our printed or digital catalogue.
關於文中所提及之參考圖，請參閱此場拍賣之電子或紙質圖錄。