A SILVER AND COPPER INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BHAISAJYAGURU...
A SILVER AND COPPER INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BHAISAJYAGURU
TIBET, PALA STYLE, CIRCA 12TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 2153
14.9 cm (5 7/8 in.) high
西藏 帕拉風格 約十二世紀 錯銀錯紅銅藥師佛銅像
This rare and accomplished sculpture is unique among a highly prized group of early Tibetan bronzes believed to pay homage to the long-lost central image of the Mahabodhi temple, which marked the spot where Buddha achieved enlightenment in northeastern India.
It was created during a time of prolific cultural exchange between Indian monasteries within the Pala kingdom and newly founded Tibetan Buddhist schools. Projects to translate entire libraries into Tibetan were adopted and Pala sculpture provided the prototypes from which much of early Tibetan art developed.
With its broad shoulders, three lines across the neck, tight-fitting robe, stepped base, and robust lotus petals, this svelte bronze adheres closely to the idioms of the Pala style. By contrast however, its face is decidedly more Tibetan. In fact, its elongated silver-inlaid eyes are exaggerated to the point of stereotype, suggestive of what David Weldon & Jane Casey Singer astutely articulate as a "Tibetan interpretation of the Indian face" (Weldon & Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet, 1999, p. 36).
Three direct comparisons are preserved in the 'Red Palace' and the Jokhang in Lhasa (von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol. I, 2001, pp. 266-7, nos. 85B-F). Without the benefit of examining their faces, which were concealed under gold paint, he attributed them to Pala. One example (no. 85C) is consecrated with a baseplate in the uniquely Tibetan manner. Meanwhile it is inscribed in Sanskrit, suggesting this occurred during Tibet's apprenticeship of Indian Buddhism between the 10th-12th centuries.
Von Schroeder also commented on this group's very rare and special feature, the distinctive cushion immediately under the figure. Each depicts a 'face of glory' (or kirtimukha) at the center, seen in the present lot with inlaid copper eyes and silver teeth, and foliage intricately weaving around the back. As he mentioned in 1981, the cushion is popularly thought to imitate the original façade of the vajrasana ('diamond-throne') – the seat under the Bodhi tree upon which Shakyamuni determined to stay until he achieved enlightenment. Sanctified under a descendent of the Bodhi tree at the Mahabodhi temple, the vajrasana's original façade has not survived.
The present sculpture, as well as the aforementioned comparisons, derive immediate inspiration from Pala examples such as a bronze found at Fatephur, near the Mahabodhi temple, which is currently missing from Bodh Gaya Museum. Weldon & Casey Singer published it with another bronze held in the National Museum, New Delhi that also seems to have inspired a related group of Tibetan copies (ibid., pp. 64 & 63, figs. 31-2 & 28-9, respectively). They are thought to be replicas of a central image of the Buddha presiding over the Mahabodhi temple and would have been sold to visitors to this premier site of pilgrimage in the medieval Buddhist world.
There are a number of other instances of cult images spawning copies throughout Buddhist Asia. Ian Alsop has discussed one, the Phakpa Lokeshvara in Lhasa, in his article published in, Orientations: Art of Tibet, 1998, pp. 81-91. Another is the Udayana Buddha, thought to be the very first image of Buddha, made during his lifetime by King Udayana of Kaushambi in Swat Valley. A true copy of the original sandalwood image travelled, by legend, to China by the 5th century, where it spawned many further copies to this day. Like the Udayana Buddha, the Mahabodhi Buddha is lost, thought to have been melted down by marauders during the Muslim invasions of the Pala territories at the turn of the 13th century. However, its special charisma lives on, echoed in the present lot.
The handful of published Tibetan copies of the Mahabodhi Buddha that follow the New Delhi prototype more closely are found in the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection (Leidy, Treasures of Asian Art, 1994, p. 84, no. 66), the Neiyingjei Lam Collection (Weldon & Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet, p. 62, figs. 26 & 27), and the Palace Museum Collection in Beijing (Wang (ed.), Zangchuan Fojiao Zaoxiang, 2008, p. 68, no. 66), and two were recently sold by Sungari International, Beijing, 23 November 2015, lot 1031, and China Guardian, Beijing, 15 May 2016, lot 3096.
Meanwhile, unlike the others, this bronze depicts the Medicine Buddha, identified by the leafy sprouts of the myrobalan plum grasped between the figure's copper-inlaid right thumb and ring finger. The Medicine Buddha is worshipped to overcome physical, mental, and spiritual sickness, and to purify karmic debt. Various dedicated sutras describe his origins differently: as an excelled bodhisattva, as a primordial Buddha, or as Shakyamuni who transformed into the Medicine Buddha in order to give the medicine teaching to an assembly of gods, sages, bodhisattvas, and arhats. This bronze is only one of its kind known to depict the Buddha of Healing.
Published
Snong Wattanavrangkul, Outstanding Sculptures of Buddhist and Hindu Gods from Private Collections in Thailand, Bhirasri Institute of Modern Art exhibition catalogue, Bangkok, 1975, pl. 12.
David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, p. 66, fig. 36.
The Light of the Buddha: Buddhist Sculptures of the Palace Museum and Zhiguan Museum of Fine Art, Beijing, 2019, pp. 280-1, no. 70.
Exhibited
Outstanding Sculptures of Buddhist and Hindu Gods from Private Collections in Thailand, Bhirasri Institute of Modern Art, Bangkok, 1975
Casting the Divine: Sculptures from Nyingjei Lam Collection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2 March 2012–11 February 2013
The Light of the Buddha: Buddhist Sculptures of the Palace Museum and Zhiguan Museum of Fine Art, Beijing, 23 October – 23 December 2018
Provenance
Praku Knanumsommanajar, Thailand, by 1975
Nyingjei Lam Collection
On loan to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1996–2005
On loan to the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2005–2016
A Distinguished Asian Collector
View it on
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
A SILVER AND COPPER INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BHAISAJYAGURU
TIBET, PALA STYLE, CIRCA 12TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 2153
14.9 cm (5 7/8 in.) high
西藏 帕拉風格 約十二世紀 錯銀錯紅銅藥師佛銅像
This rare and accomplished sculpture is unique among a highly prized group of early Tibetan bronzes believed to pay homage to the long-lost central image of the Mahabodhi temple, which marked the spot where Buddha achieved enlightenment in northeastern India.
It was created during a time of prolific cultural exchange between Indian monasteries within the Pala kingdom and newly founded Tibetan Buddhist schools. Projects to translate entire libraries into Tibetan were adopted and Pala sculpture provided the prototypes from which much of early Tibetan art developed.
With its broad shoulders, three lines across the neck, tight-fitting robe, stepped base, and robust lotus petals, this svelte bronze adheres closely to the idioms of the Pala style. By contrast however, its face is decidedly more Tibetan. In fact, its elongated silver-inlaid eyes are exaggerated to the point of stereotype, suggestive of what David Weldon & Jane Casey Singer astutely articulate as a "Tibetan interpretation of the Indian face" (Weldon & Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet, 1999, p. 36).
Three direct comparisons are preserved in the 'Red Palace' and the Jokhang in Lhasa (von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol. I, 2001, pp. 266-7, nos. 85B-F). Without the benefit of examining their faces, which were concealed under gold paint, he attributed them to Pala. One example (no. 85C) is consecrated with a baseplate in the uniquely Tibetan manner. Meanwhile it is inscribed in Sanskrit, suggesting this occurred during Tibet's apprenticeship of Indian Buddhism between the 10th-12th centuries.
Von Schroeder also commented on this group's very rare and special feature, the distinctive cushion immediately under the figure. Each depicts a 'face of glory' (or kirtimukha) at the center, seen in the present lot with inlaid copper eyes and silver teeth, and foliage intricately weaving around the back. As he mentioned in 1981, the cushion is popularly thought to imitate the original façade of the vajrasana ('diamond-throne') – the seat under the Bodhi tree upon which Shakyamuni determined to stay until he achieved enlightenment. Sanctified under a descendent of the Bodhi tree at the Mahabodhi temple, the vajrasana's original façade has not survived.
The present sculpture, as well as the aforementioned comparisons, derive immediate inspiration from Pala examples such as a bronze found at Fatephur, near the Mahabodhi temple, which is currently missing from Bodh Gaya Museum. Weldon & Casey Singer published it with another bronze held in the National Museum, New Delhi that also seems to have inspired a related group of Tibetan copies (ibid., pp. 64 & 63, figs. 31-2 & 28-9, respectively). They are thought to be replicas of a central image of the Buddha presiding over the Mahabodhi temple and would have been sold to visitors to this premier site of pilgrimage in the medieval Buddhist world.
There are a number of other instances of cult images spawning copies throughout Buddhist Asia. Ian Alsop has discussed one, the Phakpa Lokeshvara in Lhasa, in his article published in, Orientations: Art of Tibet, 1998, pp. 81-91. Another is the Udayana Buddha, thought to be the very first image of Buddha, made during his lifetime by King Udayana of Kaushambi in Swat Valley. A true copy of the original sandalwood image travelled, by legend, to China by the 5th century, where it spawned many further copies to this day. Like the Udayana Buddha, the Mahabodhi Buddha is lost, thought to have been melted down by marauders during the Muslim invasions of the Pala territories at the turn of the 13th century. However, its special charisma lives on, echoed in the present lot.
The handful of published Tibetan copies of the Mahabodhi Buddha that follow the New Delhi prototype more closely are found in the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection (Leidy, Treasures of Asian Art, 1994, p. 84, no. 66), the Neiyingjei Lam Collection (Weldon & Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet, p. 62, figs. 26 & 27), and the Palace Museum Collection in Beijing (Wang (ed.), Zangchuan Fojiao Zaoxiang, 2008, p. 68, no. 66), and two were recently sold by Sungari International, Beijing, 23 November 2015, lot 1031, and China Guardian, Beijing, 15 May 2016, lot 3096.
Meanwhile, unlike the others, this bronze depicts the Medicine Buddha, identified by the leafy sprouts of the myrobalan plum grasped between the figure's copper-inlaid right thumb and ring finger. The Medicine Buddha is worshipped to overcome physical, mental, and spiritual sickness, and to purify karmic debt. Various dedicated sutras describe his origins differently: as an excelled bodhisattva, as a primordial Buddha, or as Shakyamuni who transformed into the Medicine Buddha in order to give the medicine teaching to an assembly of gods, sages, bodhisattvas, and arhats. This bronze is only one of its kind known to depict the Buddha of Healing.
Published
Snong Wattanavrangkul, Outstanding Sculptures of Buddhist and Hindu Gods from Private Collections in Thailand, Bhirasri Institute of Modern Art exhibition catalogue, Bangkok, 1975, pl. 12.
David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, p. 66, fig. 36.
The Light of the Buddha: Buddhist Sculptures of the Palace Museum and Zhiguan Museum of Fine Art, Beijing, 2019, pp. 280-1, no. 70.
Exhibited
Outstanding Sculptures of Buddhist and Hindu Gods from Private Collections in Thailand, Bhirasri Institute of Modern Art, Bangkok, 1975
Casting the Divine: Sculptures from Nyingjei Lam Collection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2 March 2012–11 February 2013
The Light of the Buddha: Buddhist Sculptures of the Palace Museum and Zhiguan Museum of Fine Art, Beijing, 23 October – 23 December 2018
Provenance
Praku Knanumsommanajar, Thailand, by 1975
Nyingjei Lam Collection
On loan to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1996–2005
On loan to the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2005–2016
A Distinguished Asian Collector
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
