A PARCEL-GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA, KANDYAN PERIOD, SRI LANKA, 18TH CENTURY
The broad shouldered figure standing in sampada on a stepped circular plinth with his right hand incised with auspicious emblems and raised in vitarka mudra, wearing an elaborately pleated sanghati with deeply incised undulating folds and a sash draped over his left shoulder. His rounded face expressively cast with crisply delineated features, the eyes lidded and downcast, the aquiline nose and pursed lips flanked by long pendulous pierced lobes, surmounted by a five-fold siraspata.


Provenance
: From an Austrian private collection.

Condition
: Very good condition with expected old wear and casting irregularities, small nicks and scratches, minor losses, and some abrasions to the gilt. The figure with smooth patina overall and remnants of ancient pigment.

Weight: 1,750 g
Dimensions: Height 31.8 cm


After a period of decline
lasting a few centuries, Buddhism was revived throughout the Kandyan kingdom in the second half of the eighteenth century under the King Kirti Sri Rajasinha (r. 1747-1782), who encouraged Buddhist monks from Burma and Thailand to emigrate to Sri Lanka, and heavily patronized the Buddhist institutions within his kingdoms.


This sculpture is solid cast,
as is characteristic in Sri Lanka beginning with the late Anuradhapura period, and as dictated by the Sariputra, is canon of proportions to be followed for making Buddha images. The consistency of style is further guaranteed by the employment of matrices of body parts for the wax models in preparing the casts. However, while Kandyan sculpture is consistent in its broad shouldered outline, there is considerable variation in the rendering of the robe, with various degrees of undulation in the wave patterns of the folds, as well as the hemline of the sanghati draped across the left shoulder. Instead of an ushnisha, the more familiar cranial flaming protuberance is characteristic of Sri Lankan images of the Buddha.


The folds of the robe are draped asymmetrically across his body
, emulating the Anuradhapura style and indicating the soft, delicate cotton garment worn in a tropical climate. The gentle drapes of cloth suggest the sheer texture of the fabric beneath the right chest. In the 18th century Kandy, the continuous pleats of the earlier visual culture evolved into a symphony of rippling intensity that enlivens the otherwise static Buddha figure. His right hand raised in the gesture of teaching bears an etched lotus, which is an element unique to the Kandyan period.


Literature comparison:

Compare to a closely related gilt example, in J. Baker, Guardian of the Flame, 2003, p. 146, ill. on left. Also compare related image of Buddha in U. Von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures of Sri Lanka, 1990, pl. 165-67.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 29 March 2018, lot 32
Estimate: HKD 200,000 or approx.
EUR 25,500
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt copper alloy figure of Buddha, Sri Lanka, Kandyan period, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form. Note the larger size (48.5 cm).


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 29 March 2019, lot 42
Estimate: HKD 200,000 or approx.
EUR 50,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt copper alloy figure of standing Buddha, Sri Lanka, Kandyan period, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form. Note the similar size (30.5 cm).


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 30 November 2022, lot 1046
Price: HKD 153,000 or approx.
EUR 18,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt copper alloy figure of standing Buddha, Sri Lanka, Kandyan period, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form. Note the similar size (29.2 cm).