Footnotes

斯里蘭卡 阿努拉達普拉時期 十八世紀 銅鎏金佛立像

Provenance
Private Collection, US, by 1957
Thence by descent

Published
Phoenix Art Museum, Guardian of the Flame: Art of Sri Lanka, Phoenix, 2003, p. 136 & 147.

Exhibited
Guardian of the Flame: Art of Sri Lanka, Phoenix Art Museum, 8 February - 11 May 2003; The Cantor Art Center, Stanford University, 2 March - 12 June 2005; University of Virginia Art Museum, 21 January - 19 March 2006.


Standing upright with an authoritative yet gentle expression, the Buddha gazes out peacefully, reflecting universal ideals of kindness and compassion. His right hand, raised in the gesture of fearlessness (abhayamudrā), bears an etched lotus roundel unique to the Kandyan period, while traces of red pigment in the recessed areas highlight the lustrous golden hue of the figure.

Few examples demonstrate the artistic creativity of 18th-century Sri Lankan bronze casters as well as the present lot. With seemingly individualistic flair, the accomplished creator of this bronze has accentuated the general conventions of the Kandyan period, which play with abstraction in an almost modern way. The distinctive rounded face, and the large flame finial (sirispata) above, contrast with the diminutive elongated earlobes, slender waist, and thin monastic shawl (samghati) over the proper left shoulder. Moreover, the undulating contour of this figure's right side contrasts with the straight edge of its left. The gilded surface is finished with panache using formalized waves to convey the wrinkling of fine gossamer under Sri Lanka's tropical humidity. When presented with this sculpture, it is no surprise that modern Sri Lankan artists took inspiration from their innovative ancestors.

Sri Lanka maintains the longest continuous tradition of Buddhism in the world, and this is evident in the variety and evolution of core aesthetic principles underlying the island's Buddhist art. Sri Lankan Buddha images are distinguished by their elegant and noble stature, incorporating iconometric prescriptions establishing the proportions of the ultimate enlightened being: Buddha Shakyamuni.