RARE PLAQUE CARRÉE EN BRONZE À DÉCOR DE BOUDDHA ET BODHISATTVASXIIe-XIVe siècle A RARE BRONZE SQUARE 'BUDDHA AND BODHISATTVAS' DECORATED PLAQUE 12th-14th century The surface incised on one side with three large figures, the central Buddha figure flanked by two Bodhisattvas, one holding a lotus bloom extending over the right shoulder, wearing crowns and voluminous flowing robes, tied with sashes and cascading in elaborate folds, each standing upon a lotus petal base, the reverse plain. 17.8cm (7in) x 16cm (6 1/4in). Provenance: Robert Rousset, Paris (1901-1981), acquired prior to 1935 Jean-Pierre Rousset, Paris (1936-2021) The present engraved bronze plaque is exceptionally rare in its decoration and function. The finely incised decoration depicts the Three Sages of the Western Pure Land: Amitābha stands between Avalokiteshvara and Mahāsthāma on an array of lotus blossoms. Circular halos encircle each head signifying divinity and glory. The question of the function of this plaque is intriguing and presents two likely possibilities. The first is that the rectangular plaque, decorated on one side and plain on the other, was used as a mirror. Supporting this option are a small number of known engraved mirrors decorated on one side with Buddhist figures, two of which were uncovered from the Yunju Temple, Beijing, dating to the Liao dynasty, and now in the Capital Museum, Beijing; and another example, dated Song dynasty, is in the collection of the in the Hunan Provincial Museum. However, all three examples are circular in form, with an aperture for hanging, whereas the Rousset 'mirror' does not have an aperture. Yet, there might be an explanation for this – the Rousset mirror may have been used as mirror on a pagoda to reflect the sunlight – this possibility is supported by the over a thousand bronze mirrors adorning the Shijiafoshelita Pagoda (the 'White Pagoda'), Liao dynasty, dated 1049, in Inner Mongolia, some of which are incised with Buddhist figures on the reflective side; see Hsueh-Man Shen, Proceedings of the British Academy , 2012, 'Between One and Many: Multiples, Multiplication and the Huayan Metaphysics, 2011, pp. 205–258, pp.229-231, and 254-256. As noted by Hsueh-Man Shen, ibid ., pp.254-256, mirrors with incised Buddhist images are literally associated with the Buddhist metaphor 'image [reflected] in a mirror'. The reflection of images in a mirror represents a Buddhist analogy with the transient and is related to the notion of emptiness. In various Buddhist texts, the multitudes were instructed to view the phenomenal world as an image in a mirror and emptiness as the mirror itself. Similarly, while the reflected image in a mirror changes as the object moves, the substance of the mirror remains unchanged. Hence seeing a Buddha image in a mirror is analogous to discerning the Buddha. Therefore, a mirror incised with a Buddha image on the reflective side can be viewed as an embodiment of this ide