J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art / New York City, New York
MenuPast Exhibition
Buddhist Sculpture from Ancient China
March 10-31, 2017
20.
AN EARLY CAST IRON FIGURE OF AMITĀBHA
Song Dynasty (960-1279)
hollow cast in the round, the Buddha with head slightly bowed and eyes half closed in meditation, a small round urna on the forehead, the hair arranged in swirling parallel curls parting to reveal an usnisa at the front, shown seated with legs crossed in padmasana and hands clasped in dhyana mudra resting in his lap, wearing long robes draped loosely from the shoulders, with full sleeves spread over the knees and gathered in thick folds at the front, the back simply modelled, the base with a shallow flange slightly inset from the edge, with smooth dark brown patina all over, worn through in some areas to reveal a reddish rust layer.
Height 10 7⁄8 inches (27.5 cm)
Compare the large stone seated Buddha with the hair and usnisa depicted in very similar style, in the collection of the Shanxi Provincial Museum, illustrated by Matsubara in Chūgoku bukkyō chōkoku shiron (History of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture), Vol. III, Tokyo, 1995, no. 798, described as Five Dynasties (907-960).
Compare also the stone figure of Amitābha shown seated in padmasana on a lotus throne, discovered in 1956 in the digong (dedication chamber) under a Buddhist stupa dated to the Northern Song dynasty at the site of Wanfo temple, Jinhua, Zhejiang province, illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji: diaosu pian 5, Wudai Song diaosu (Compendium of Chinese Art: Sculptures, Vol. 5, Sculpture of the Five Dynasties and Song Dynasty), Beijing, 1988, p. 61, no. 59, with description on p. 23.
宋 鐵鑄阿彌陀佛坐像 高 27.5 厘米
