Beschreibung:

STATUETTE DE MAITREYA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE DORÉTIBET, XVE SIÈCLE 22.5 cm (8 7/8 in.) highFootnotesA GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF MAITREYA TIBET, 15TH CENTURY 西藏 十五世紀 銅鎏金彌勒菩薩像 This extremely rare representation of the future Buddha, Maitreya, is identified by the miniature stupa framed by a gem-set arch within the begging bowl supported by his left hand. The right hand is in vitarkamudra in the gesture of explication. This unusual iconography of Maitreya in the Buddha appearance is shared with a Maitreya by Zanabazara (HAR 19751), but does not appear to be common to the earlier period in either sculpture or painted form. He is not ornamented in any other way other that a curving beaded tassel that emerges from the pleated robe end at his left shoulder and falls across his upper arm. The treatment of this tassel matches ornamentation that is common to sculpture of Gyantse and Shigatse in the second quarter of the 15th century, and indeed the work of the artist Sonam Gyaltsen. A Shakyamuni with this same feature (HAR 11595) is also attributed to Sonam Gyaltsen. However, the treatment of the broad lotus petals and the tripartite curled sections of the tip does not conform to the Sonam Gyaltsen style, but follows the designs found on Xuande sculpture that were given as gifts from the Chinese Imperial court. The feature also appears as a popular design on paintings in both mural and thangka form such as the thangka of Mahachakravajrapani (HAR 21949). Additionally, the structure of the base, with a single row of petals below a shallow plain angled band below the rim is shared by a Mahakala in the Tibet Museum, Gruyere (HAR 200464), but the lotus petal is less refined. Provenance: Collected during the Younghusband expedition in 1904, by repute, by Colonel Beetson Bell Thence by descent