Cast and incised bronze with a rich an authentic malachitegreen age patina. On the back of the halo is a long devotional inscription with a date: (from the upper right) WUPING er nian (2nd year of Wuping), i.e. 571. This date corresponds to the style of the bronze. Wuping is a period of the northern Qi-dynasty that began in 570.. China, Northern Qi dynasty

Rare bronze depicting the Buddha Shakyamuni (Shijiamouni) dressed in a flowing robe with many folds and standing on a lotus base in front of a flaming halo. His raised hand gives the gesture of fearlessness, Abhaya, with the lower hand held in Varadamudra, the gesture of wish granting. On the halo are accompanying bodhisattvas standing on a lotus pedestal at the Buddha’s side, each holding what appears to be a lotus blossom in one hand, possibly Padmapani. Sitting above the Buddha on a lotus throne is a figure which cannot be more closely identified, but which, given that it is in worship and has no cranial protrusion, might be an abbot. Very powerfully designed small tongues of the crown of flames, which symbolizes the “light rays” of Buddha’s appearance and teachings.

Shape: Sculptural shape with semi-plastic halo and round,
raised base
Dimensions: Height 23 cm.
Condition: Strong, predominantly green patina. Some of the
tips of the flames are damaged, but on the whole well and
completely preserved statue. The halo and the base have
been re-attached once, likely a very long time ago.
Provenance: German private collection
Literature comparison: Sotheby’s, The Arts of the Buddha,
21 SEP 2007, NEW YORK, lot 5. (for a Maitreya executed
in similar style, dated Northern Wei dynasty, secondhalf
5th Century) Sothebys, Chinese Art through the
Eye of Sakamoto Gorō: Early Buddhist Bronzes, 05 OCT
2016, HONG KONG, lot 3211S. (for a bronze statue of
AVALOKITESVARA executed in a similar manner, but dated
519)
This statue comes with the authenticity analysis report
15-006 from the Archeometric Institute REM in Mannheim,
which comes to the conclusion “that this is an old metal
… with no evidence whatsoever that it was produced in
modern times …”

571年青銅火焰背光佛陀立蓮像
青銅表面有著濃鬱的真實孔雀綠包漿。在背光後面一篇很長
的銘文記載著鑄造年份“武平二年”，即571年。這個年份符合
青銅像風格。
中國，北齊
佛陀身著通肩袈裟，綫條流暢，褶皺繁複。他站來在蓮花座
上，背光火焰熊熊，右手施無畏印，左手施與愿印。背光上佛陀
上方蓮座上可能為一主持。另有兩位菩薩手持蓮花分立佛陀兩
側，應爲蓮花手菩薩。火焰背光火舌雄雄有力，代表著佛陀的
出現及他的教義。
形狀：造像生動立體，背光為圓形，底座凸起。
尺寸：高23厘米
藍綠色銹斑。背光稍有損壞，雕像保存完好。背光和底座可能
很久之前重新組裝過。
德國私人收藏
文獻比較：蘇富比The Arts of the Buddha，2007年9月21
日，紐約，拍品第5號（一座北魏相似風格的彌勒佛）；蘇富
比，Chinese Art through the Eye of Sakamoto Gorō: Early
Buddhist Bronzes，2016年10月5日，香港，第3211號（斷代為
519年的相似造型的觀音）
此青銅造像經過曼海姆考古研究所REM的測試，報告編號
15-006，結論為“古老金屬材料，沒有人證據表明他是現代
生產的”