Footnotes

藏中 十五世紀 銅鎏金彌勒菩薩像

Maitreya is seated on a stepped pedestal that recalls the North Eastern Pala dynasty with protective lions and scrolling motifs on the upper edge and supporting pillars. The frontal seated position with his feet resting on a semicircular lotus platform is a posture known as bhadrasana (auspicious posture) or pralambapadasana (extended legs posture), which is found in Indian art as early as the Kushan period. In Himalayan art, the pose is usually reserved for images of Buddha or Maitreya preaching in their respective heavens. In the major monasteries of Tibet, such as Tashilhunpo or the Jokhang at Lhasa, the largest and most central image is of Maitreya in bodhisattva form, seated on a lion throne with a lotus foot rest and his hands in dharmachakramudra.

The inspired artist responsible for this remarkable bronze has employed a number of small variants and additions to enliven this most auspicious image of the bodhisattva. Namely the loose tresses that fall over his back are arranged in a looping open knot and his lower garment spilling over the back of the platform in a neatly pleated elliptical curve. The slightly waved scarves extend from the arms to the top of the platform, where they fan out in fish-tail pleats, acting as both a casting support and a decorative device. His jewelry and beaded swags terminate in bells issuing inverted leaves and round gems, and armbands of lotus petals bearing a piece of inset stone at the center of a pointed five-lobed leaf are similar to that of the atelier of Sonam Gyaltsen (Bonhams, New York, 19 March 2018, lot 3033).

Each of the vines flanking his shoulders terminate in unique lotus and flower heads, with the two primary stems supporting flame-like jewels. His defining attribute of a stupa, signifies Maitreya as the Buddha of the future, here placed at the top of his elaborate chignon surrounded by the tall leaves of his crown.

See a related gilt-bronze figure of Maitreya, dated to the 15th century, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Classics of the Forbidden City: Tibetan Buddhist Sculptures, Beijing, 2011, pl. 51 and another in the Jokang (von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculpture in Tibet, Vol. 2, 2001, p. 1062, no. 271). Also compare a related yet lesser refined example dated to the 16th century in von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981, p. 441, no. 118D. A later figure of Maitreya, dated to the 17th century, is in the Museum Rietberg Zurich, Uhlig, On the Path to Enlightenment , 1995, pl. 39 and another seated on a similar base is in a private collection in the Netherlands (see van Alphen et. Al, Cast for Eternity, 2005, pp. 200-1, no. 67.

Provenance:
Private European Collection, acquired in 2001