Footnotes

Sri Lanka maintains the longest
 continuous tradition of Buddhism in the
 world, and Sri Lankan Buddha statues are distinguished for their elegance and air of benign authority, which the present sculpture has in abundance. Large, solid, and dazzling, it is a canonical example of royal commissions made during the late Kandyan period (c.18th/19th century), evoking both the Sri Lankan sculptor's adherence to tradition, and the flair of new and confident foreign rulers striving towards a distinct identity.

His broad shoulders and powerful build follow a precedent set among Sri Lanka's earliest Buddha images of the Anaradhapura period, such as the monumental c.8th-century Avukana Buddha. So too does the appearance of a glorious flame to denote the ushnisha, which grows larger and broader in the Kandyan period. The robe is also draped asymmetrically in a mode emulating the Anuradhapura style, but with a new panache conveying a fine cotton garment wrinkling under a tropical climate. Meanwhile, his right hand, raised in the gesture of teaching, bears etched lotus roundels unique to the Kandyan period.

Discussed by Baker, this sculpture was made by royal commission, distinguished from more vernacular examples by virtue of a more elongated face informed by the breadth of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha's (r.1747-82) finger used as the basic unit of measurement in formulating the image's iconometry (pp.41-9 & 131-3). The figure excels for the serenity of his expression and the sensitive modeling of the body underneath his mesmerizing robes. Another example of a royal Kandyan Buddha was sold at Christie's, New York, 20 March 2002, lot 35.

Published
Janet Baker, Guardian of the Flame: Art of Sri Lanka, Phoenix, 2003, p.140.

Exhibited
Guardian of the Flame: Art of Sri Lanka, Phoenix Art Museum, 8 February – 11 May 2003.

Provenance
Private Family Collection, US, before 1956
John Eskenazi Ltd, London, acquired from the above in 2014
Private Collection, acquired from the above


銅鎏金佛立像
斯里蘭卡，康提時期，十八世紀
高53釐米（20 7/8英吋）

700,000-900,000港元

斯里蘭卡崇尚佛教，長期不間斷地保有佛教傳統。正如此尊精美造像，斯里蘭卡佛像以細膩華美而不失端莊威嚴而聞名。佛陀體魄健碩，面像柔潤，熠熠生輝，實為康提晚期（約18 / 19世紀）皇家造像藝術之典範，一方面體現出斯里蘭卡藝術家對傳統的堅持，另一方面也展現了信心十足的新統治者對獨特身份的追求。

此尊立佛肩膀寬碩，體格英武，此種風格早自斯里蘭卡阿努拉達普拉時期便已形成，約八世紀建成的奧卡納大佛便為一列。佛陀頭頂飾有「智焰」，這種以火焰代表頂髻的做法亦延續了八世紀的傳統，然而在康提時期「智焰」的尺寸和寬度都較早期有所增加。袈裟的不對稱造型亦源於阿努拉達普拉時期，但較早期更加華麗，表現出上乘布料之質感， 衣褶自然流暢如波浪起伏。佛陀右手呈說法印，掌中雕有康提時期獨特的蝕刻蓮花。

Baker在其文章中指出本拍品為皇室造像，相比地方造像面孔更為修長， 傳統皇室造像的身型比例是以科提斯裡拉賈辛哈國王（1734-82）的手指寬度作為基本測量單位而制定的（頁41-9，131-3）。此尊造像對身型和意藴的描繪均超出常品，實為斯里蘭卡康提時期的上乘之作。另一尊康提時期的皇室造像於2002年3月20日在紐約佳士得售出（拍品35號）。

著錄
Janet Baker， Guardian of the Flame：Art of Sri Lanka，鳳凰城， 2003年， 頁140。

展覽
Guardian of the Flame：Art of Sri Lanka，鳳凰美術館，2003年2月8日至5月11日。

來源
私人家族珍藏，美國，1956年前
John Eskenazi Ltd，倫敦，於2014年購自上述收藏
私人珍藏，購自上述古董商