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Published & Exhibited: Ben Janssens Oriental Art, Chinese Metalwork, 5-14 November 2015, London, p. 50-51, no. 23.
China, 16th-17th century. Finely cast standing with the right and left hands held in abhaya and varada mudra respectively, the body enveloped in a long robe with elongated sleeve openings and accentuated overall with pronounced folds and undulations, the garment loosely clinging to the gently rounded outlines of his stomach and legs and ending in a flaring hem above the bare feet.
The deity portrayed with a serene and meditative countenance framed by a pair of long pendulous earlobes and hair neatly swept over the mound of the ushnisha and radiating around two circular ornaments. The back with two rectangular apertures.
Provenance: From a private collection, Japan. Ben Janssens Oriental Art, London, United Kingdom, acquired from the above. Ben Janssens opened his eponymous gallery in 1996 in London, specializing in early Chinese art. Previously he had been a director at Spink & Son. He also served as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of TEFAF Maastricht.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, minimal casting irregularities, minor rubbing to gilt, minuscule losses to one thumb and one fingertip, fatigue cracks to the back, scattered small nicks and light dents.
Weight: 1 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 18.1 cm (excl. stand), 19.7 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted to a modern onyx stand and with a wood storage box inscribed in Japanese 'Shaka (Buddha)'. (3)
Expert’s note: The figure is inlaid with copper plaques of rectangular shape, often referred to as casting patches, mostly to the back of the figure with one such plaque now lost as evidenced by the distinctly shaped recess near the lower hem at the back. These plaques may have once served a ritual purpose and are frequently observed in Buddhist sculptures.
Maitreya, Buddha of the Future Age, governs two perfected worlds: Tusita Heaven, which he currently inhabits, and Ketumati, an ideal realm conducive to the pursuit of enlightenment where he will serve as the teaching Buddha. The Maitreya's hands are held in abhaya and varada mudras, embodying a message of the coming salvation of all sentient beings.
As the Yuan dynasty crumbled amidst famine, floods and general unrest, the anti-Mongol slogan, “The empire is in utter chaos […] Maitreya Buddha has incarnated, and the Manichaean King of Light has appeared in this world […]” of Han Shantong, Grand Patriarch of the White Lotus sect, was a call to arms and rebellion. Central to Han’s belief structure was the idea that Buddha Maitreya had finally manifested in the world as the successor to Buddha Shakyamuni. Shortly after Han’s demise in 1351, Zhu Yuanzhang, also a member of the White Lotus sect, emerged as the leader of the ethnic Han Chinese rebelling against the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. In 1368, he eventually proclaimed himself as the Hongwu Emperor of the newly established Ming dynasty. It was during this period that images of Buddha Maitreya, such as the present lot, were depicted almost exclusively in the distinct Udayana style which gained increased popularity.
The formulaic rendering of the U-shaped folds of the robe is one of the most interesting iconographic features of the present figure. This is known as Udayana, an ancient name for the early Gandharan region now in the present-day Swat Valley, Pakistan, from which similarly robed images of Maitreya first originated. This distinctive style of dress had transmitted along the Silk Road all the way to China and appeared there as early as the fourth century, as exemplified by the gilt-bronze seated Buddha Shakyamuni illustrated by H. Munsterberg, in Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, New York, 1988, page 37, fig. 1, which bears an inscription dated to 338 AD.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2014, lot 3057
Estimate: HKD 40,000,000 or approx. EUR 6,306,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Magnificent Gilt-Bronze Standing Figure of Udayana Buddha Mark and Period of Yongle
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling with similar U-shaped folds, elongated undulating sleeves, and size (19 cm). Note the Yongle reign mark on the base, which is missing from the present lot, and that this example lacks the distinct Udayana hairstyle.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 15 December 2010, lot 302
Price: EUR 25,000 or approx. EUR 31,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt-bronze figure of Buddha, Tibeto-Chinese, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the related arrangement of the hair, the treatment of the base, and the serene expression. Note the different size (24 cm) and later date.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Zacke, Vienna, 29 September 2022, lot 164
Price: EUR 10,400 or approx. EUR 11,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An important and rare Udayana-style figure of Maitreya, late Yuan dynasty-Hongwu period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling with similar pose, garment folds, and hairstyle. Note the different material and size (31.2 cm).
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