A gilt bronze figure of Buddha China, Tang Dynasty

seated in dhyanasana with one hand resting on a knee and the other raised up possibly in vitarka mudra, the face cast in simple lines yet effectively conveying a contemplative expression beneath a domed ushnisha, the long robes leaving the chest bare and cascading in long folds over the high waisted plinth with lappets and stepped octagonal base, all supported on an openwork squared pedestal with an elaborate barbed panel at the front

Small votive images of the 'Teaching Buddha' were popular during the mid Tang Dynasty, compare a similar image of slightly larger proportions but similar mudra and treatment of the robes, formerly from the Nitta Collection and currently in the collection of the National Palace Museum, exhibited The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, Taipei, 1987, pl.76. A similar figure complete with foliate mandorla, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, is illustrated Hai-Wai Yi-Chen. Chinese Art in Overseas Collections. Buddhist Sculpture I, Taipei, 1986, pl.81.