A fine and rare gilt bronze figure of Manjusri China, Ming Dynasty, mark and period of Yongle

superbly cast in fully rounded fleshy volumes, the bodhisattva seated in dhyanasana upon a lotus base of thickly lobed lappets, the bare torso swaying gently to its right while the right arm lifts aloft a sword with finely curved blade, with the left hand in vitarka mudra grasping a lotus bearing a sutra book, the face cast with bow-shaped eyes and bud mouth beneath a jeweled urna, the hair pulled in a high topknot and secured with a foliate tiara, adorned overall with large ear-pendants, jeweled pectoral and apron, the spreading dhoti stopping before the incised mark Da Ming Yongle nianshi, the baseplate apparently unopened

Manjusri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom is shown here in his two-armed manifestation bearing his attributes;  a sword and a wrapped manuscript (pustaka) of the Prajnaparamita Sutra, borne on a blue lotus. The present example is characteristic of the outstanding quality of gilt bronze casting, with its sensuous volumes and thick gilding, achieved under the sponsorship of the Yongle emperor at the Imperial workshops.

Figures of Manjusri bearing a sword appear to be very rare. Compare a much larger two-armed version in similar pose, identified as Arapacana-Manjusri (Ch. Wenshu-shili Pusa), exhibited at the Chang Foundation, Taipei, Buddhist Images in Gilt Metal, Taipei, 1993, p.118, pl.52.

Compare also the four-armed version of Manjusri holding a sword, bow and arrow, identified as either Caturbhuja-Manjusri or Tiksna-Manjusri. One in the British Museum, London, is illustrated in Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p.517, fig.144G; and three others preserved in the 'Red Palace', Lhasa and in the Jokhang monastery, Lhasa, are illustrated in Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, vol.II, Hong Kong, 2001, pp.1272-73, pls.354A-C, as well as a larger version, ibid., pp.1282-83, pls.359D-E.