A rare large gilt bronze figure of Buddha China, Northern Wei Dynasty, dated AD 482

seated in dhyanasana with right hand in abhaya mudra and left hand resting upon his knee while lifting up the hem of his robe, the robe draped leaving one shoulder and part of the chest bare, its folds rhythmically delineated and terminating in 'flame'-points, with the inner folds depicted in diamond-diaper and studded borders, the features cast with rudimentary short lines yet creating a convincing impression of wide eyes and beatific 'archaic' smile, the large ears with pendent lobes framed by rhythmically undulating lobed hair spiralling into the high ushnisha and with further whorls at the front and back representing the urna, cast seated on a square pillow with undulating border, supported on a high waisted plinth of lotus lappets and a squared base with footed corners cast with enclosed panels of scrolling leaves within studded borders, the reverse with long inscription dated Taihe liunian (AD 482), two integral tangs at his back securing the separate leaf-shaped mandorla, cast with a foliate medallion encircled by a halo of floral scroll, borne by upright lotus sprays, all framed by suspended ropes of jewels held aloft by descending apsaras flanking a Buddha on lotus throne, all against flames rising to a sharp peak

Large gilt-bronzes of Buddha from this early period are very rare, particularly with an elaborate mandorla, and the present example compares well with the famous gilt bronze dated AD 477, formerly in the Nitta Collection, now in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, exhibited The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, Taipei, 1987, pl.58 and illustrated on the cover, particularly in the treatment of the hands and the minor decorative elements on the base. The presence of a small transcendental or Tathagata Buddha in the mandorla suggests an identification of the present image with that of Buddha Sakyamuni, particularly as the waisted pedestal was intended to evoke the stepped form of Mount Meru, representing the Buddhist cosmos.

Compare also a similar Sakyamuni votive group illustrated by Matsubara Saburo, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, Tokyo, 1966, pls. 30-31; and others in Osvald Sirén, Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, London, 1925, pl.279.  The whorl of hair at the back of the head is a particular innovation of the Northern Wei period, as visible in a standing Buddha, ibid., pls. 12-13, dated AD 443 . A very similar Buddha and pedestal with lions, dated AD 484, from the collection of Grenville Winthrop, now in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, is illustrated by Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, fig.141D, while two others dated AD 462 / 463 and AD 473, are still venerated and preserved in the 'Red Palace' in Lhasa, see Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculpture in Tibet, vol.II, Hong Kong, 2001, pls.337-38.