Footnotes

斯里蘭卡 康提時期 十八世紀 銅鎏銀佛陀像

After three hundred years of internecine civil conflict and successive waves of European imperialists, the Kingdom of Kandy emerged as the pre-eminent Sinhalese political authority. Under its stability and the avid patronage of its kings, Sri Lanka witnessed a Buddhist revival with an unprecedented amount of building and restoring of monastic institutions. Bronze Buddha images proliferated, most of them either gilded or non-gilded depicting the sage in a standing pose. Fewer portrayed the Buddha seated, like the present example, and fewer still had their surface imbued with silver.

As tall as many standing images, this imposing figure's prominent nose and eyelids and rounded countenance draw a likeness to statues inside the main hall of Ridi Viharaya (lit. 'Silver Temple') that likely served as models for the piece (c.f. Phoenix Art Museum, Legacy of Kings, 2021, pp. 94-5 & 104). Ridi Viharaya is recorded to have been a place for silver ore in ancient times. The temple was completed in 2nd century BCE, during the Early Anuradhapura period, and revived under the patronage of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha (r.1747-82), whose rule marked the peak of royal Kandyan Buddhist sponsorship. The rare application of silver to this bronze is perhaps another nod to this important place of pilgrimage.

Two predominant forces inform the distinctive style of Kandyan Buddhist art. One is the continuance of Sinhalese tradition in depicting Buddha with a broad body type wrapped in a pleated robe, set by colossal statues of the Anuradhapura and Polunnaruwa periods. The other is a South Indian tradition of expressing dynastic identity through artistic patronage of religious objects, pursued with enthusiasm by the Nayak princes, who were invited to assume Kandy's throne after its last Sinhalese king died without an heir in 1739. Such fusion is exemplified by the present sculpture, whose massive shoulders and air of empyrean authority evoke tradition, while the mesmerizing crinkles of the garment, abstracted physiognomy, and enlarged flame finial summon Kandyan panache. A gilded example of comparable scale was sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 29 March 2019, lot 45.

Published:
Phoenix Art Museum, Legacy of Kings: Art of Sri Lanka, 2021, p. 119, fig. 1.

Provenance:
Private Collection, US, by 1957
Thence by descent