A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF VAJRASANA BUDDHA TIBET, 14TH/15TH CENTURY

A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF VAJRASANA BUDDHA
TIBET, 14TH/15TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 1412
8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm) high
Footnotes:
西藏 十四/十五世紀 銅鎏金金剛座佛陀像

The Buddha Shakyamuni sits in serene equipoise on a double lotus throne with his right hand held in bhumisparsha mudra, the gesture signifying the moment when the earth bore witness to his enlightenment. His idealized form, reflecting the purity of this moment, illuminates his enlightened physique with the third eye, perfect lotus posture, and raised cranial protuberance. Placed at the edge of the base, in front of the pleated garment between his folded legs, is a vajra in symbolic reference to Bodhgaya, the place where the Buddha attained enlightenment. The slender limbs of his form and tapered waist with this overall elongated physique suggests a mutable expression of the idealization of the Buddha's body. Other examples bearing this similarity of proportions are illustrated in von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, pp. 442-3, no. 119C.

Provenance:
Elizabeth May Hicks Barrett (1874-1957), Norfolk, Virginia.
Thus by descent