A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHATIBET, CIRCA 13TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.16706
25.5 cm (10 in.) high注脚Here, the historical Buddha is deeply focused in meditation, shielded from the distractions of the mundane world. His right hand gently touches the lotus base, signifying the moment he attained supreme enlightenment. This distinctive representation, with its tall ushnisha (enlightened cranial protuberance), belongs to an important group of c.13th-century bronzes that show early Tibetan artists straying away from Indian and Nepalese prototypes and including their own aesthetic proclivities.

The treatment of Buddha's close-fitting robe borrows from Pala-style models of Northeastern India. Compare its depiction draped over his left shoulder, eclipsing his left forearm, and fanning out before his shins with five 10th-century Pala bronzes held in the Calcutta Museum (Niharranjan, Eastern Indian Bronzes, New Delhi, 1986, nos.217-21). Meanwhile, the stamens of the lotus flower represented around the top edge of the base follow the sculptural tradition of Nepal (Weldon & Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet, London, 1999, p.176).

However, the artist has given the Buddha a slender body, not as fleshy as Indian and Nepalese physiognomy. The effect affords him an otherworldly feel, emphasizing Buddha's transcendent nature, rather than his brief sojourn in the mortal realm. Compare to three other examples of 13th-century Tibetan bronze buddhas with similar body types and patterned robe borders (von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol.II, Hong Kong, 2001, pp.1161 & 1190, nos.307E & 322A-B).

The present work is also closely related to a group of 13th-/14th-century bodhisattvas and crowned buddhas in Jokhang monastery, Lhasa (ibid., pp.1156-9, nos.305C, 306B, 306C, 306D). In addition to almost identical lotus pedestals, the figures exhibit the same fanned pleats gathered above it, and the same distinctive downcast eyes with an elegant curve to the upper and lower eye lids.

Provenance
Koller Auktionen, Zurich, 30 May 1981, lot 108


佛陀銅像
西藏，約十三世紀
喜馬拉雅藝術資源網16706號
高25.5釐米（10英吋）

600,000-800,000港幣

佛陀深入禪觀，遠離塵世紛擾。右手輕觸蓮花座，象徵著佛祖悟道之莊嚴瞬間。頭頂肉髻高聳，風格獨特。本作品應歸屬於一組十三世紀前後的重要西藏造像，其風格體現出早期的西藏匠師逐漸遠離印度與尼泊爾的傳統模式，進而將藏人自己的審美與思想融入創作之中。

佛陀貼身的僧袍承襲了東北印度的帕拉風格。長袍自左肩披下，遮擋住左側上臂，在盤起的小腿處垂落成優美的扇形，可與印度加爾各答博物館藏五尊十世紀銅像相比較（參考Niharranjan，《Eastern Indian Bronzes》，新德里，1986年，編號217-21）。但蓮座上緣所刻的細密花蕊卻依照尼泊爾傳統而作（見Weldon與Casey Singer, 《The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet》，倫敦，1999年，頁176）。

然而，匠師將佛陀的身體塑造得略顯清瘦，與印度和尼泊爾對豐腴身材的偏愛並不相同。此種柔和修長的身材給予了佛陀更多出世之感，著重於體現其超越凡塵的神性，而非在煙火俗世的短暫停留。另有三尊十三世紀西藏佛造像可資比較，他們具有相似的纖瘦身材與鏨刻花邊的僧袍（見馮·施羅德，《西藏佛教造像》，卷二，香港，2001年，頁1161與1190，編號307E與322A-B）。

本尊造像亦與拉薩大昭寺所藏的一組十三至十四世紀菩薩像與寶冠佛陀像十分接近（同上，頁1156-9，編號305C，306B，306C，306D）。除幾乎完全一致的蓮瓣形狀以及蓮座上的扇形衣摺以外，此組造像同樣以優美的深弧曲線描繪出佛祖菩薩獨特的低垂眼目。

來源
闊樂拍賣（Koller Auktionen），蘇黎世，1981年5月30日，拍品108