Maitreya Gilt Copper Nepal

Standing in abangha, subtly flexed at the waist with the right knee moving forward, the left knee locked with the weight taken on the left foot, his right hand raised in abhaya mudra, the gesture of fearlessness and protection, his left hand down in the lotus bearing position, wearing a patterned dhoti tied at the waist secured by a jeweled belt, the gathered cloth falling in pleated folds from behind the gem-set belt clasp, a sash tied at the right thigh, with the Brahmanical cord across the left shoulder looping over the sash and down to the right knee. Maitreya is adorned with bodhisattva jewellery including bracelets and a beaded necklace, a jewelled cluster in the right ear, a large hoop ear plug in the left, and an elaborate three leaf crown, with his hair cascading to the left shoulder.

The statue epitomizes the restrained elegance and grace of Licchavi period (c. 400-879) sculpture. Vestiges of Indian Gupta period ideals are still evident in this classic bronze; the human form of the God subtly delineated as he stands with perfect poise, the regal countenance enhanced by the pronounced aquiline nose and protruding lower lip, defining features of Licchavi sculpture. Details are exquisitely rendered, the dhoti decorated with vibrant textile motifs and the fall of its cloth so perfectly observed as it is drawn around the hips and flows to the feet. The elegance of the coiffure is unsurpassed. Indeed the sculpture is identified as Maitreya by means of this striking hairstyle. In the absence of a ritual object such as the stupa or kundika, it is the reference to Maitreya's ascetic nature described by the long tresses that identifies the bodhisattva; see Chutiwongs, 1994, for a full discussion of the iconography of Maitreya.

Compare the patterned cloth, the belt clasp, the crown band and the unusual asymmetric combination of earrings consisting of a jewelled cluster in the right and large hoop ear plug in the left, with an eighth or ninth century Nepalese gilt copper Goddess now in the Potala, Lhasa; see von Schroeder, 2001, pl. 150C, p. 479.