Rachel Du
Specialist
Decorative Asian Works of Art / A SMALL GILT-BRONZE PLAQUE IN THE FORM OF AMITABHA BUDDHA Joseon dynasty, 15th/16th century
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTION
Lot 202
A SMALL GILT-BRONZE PLAQUE IN THE FORM OF AMITABHA BUDDHA
Joseon dynasty, 15th/16th century
13 – 22 June 2022, 10:00 PDT
Online, Los AngelesSold for US$1,912.50 inc. premium
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Hannah Thompson
Head of Department, Asian Art
Katniss Xu
Administrator / Jr. Cataloguer
A SMALL GILT-BRONZE PLAQUE IN THE FORM OF AMITABHA BUDDHA
Joseon dynasty, 15th/16th century
Cast seated in dhyanasana on a lotus blossom, the hands placed in the lap in dhyanamudra, wearing a dhoti tied at the waist and loose robes falling open at the chest, the oval face with downcast eyes, a small urna, and pendulous ears beneath tightly coiled hair covering the scalp and ushnisha, the reverse with recessed contours from hollow casting and with two protruding tangs for affixing the plaque to a support, traces of gilt, later stand.
4 7/8in (12.4cm) high
Cast seated in dhyanasana on a lotus blossom, the hands placed in the lap in dhyanamudra, wearing a dhoti tied at the waist and loose robes falling open at the chest, the oval face with downcast eyes, a small urna, and pendulous ears beneath tightly coiled hair covering the scalp and ushnisha, the reverse with recessed contours from hollow casting and with two protruding tangs for affixing the plaque to a support, traces of gilt, later stand.
4 7/8in (12.4cm) high
Footnotes
The youthful features, symmetrical folds in the drapery, hand positions and meditative pose of this diminutive seated figure compare favorably to those of a larger gilt-bronze seated figure of Avalokiteshvara in the Chuncheon National Museum, ascribed to the 14th-15th century: see Jan Van Alphen (et al.), The Smile of Buddha: 1600 Years of Buddhist Art in Korea, Brussels, Palais des Beaux-arts, 2008, no. 93, pp 242-243 (reportedly from Cheolwon, 32cm high). Similar features of face and clothing also appear in the bronze Amitabha triad in the Cleveland Museum of Art, included in Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art of the Korean Renaissance, 1400-1600, New York, 2009, cat. no. 13, discussed on pp 34-35 and p. 101 (also attributed to the 15th century). Owing to the popularity of Amitabha images alone or in triads during the early Joseon period, it is possible that this plaque could have been part of such a group.