A fine gilt-Bronze figure of Amitayus Yuan/Early Ming Dynasty, 14th Dynasty

Amitayus, the Buddha of Infinite Life, superbly modelled seated gracefully in dhyanasana upon the back of a recumbent kylin, with his hands held together in front of him in dhyanamudra, the facial features finely rendered with eyes slightly downcast to provide a serene expression, with a small mouth below a curling moustache, and a long beard descending to his necklace, the plaited hair partially falling on each shoulder, the rest set in short curls and secured by a delicate beaded crown centred with an image of Amitabha, wearing an elaborate dhoti with a border of lotus bloom patterns tied high above the stomach in a bow, and the loose folds falling over the crossed legs, shoulders and arms, the torso bare, wearing a beaded necklace centred by a large pendant, the ferocious kylin with a saddle cloth decorated with finely incised lotus blooms draped over its body, the mouth open wide bearing sharp fangs, its eyes shut, resting on four sharp clawed feet, its knobbly spine finely detailed and the bushy eyebrows, mane and feathery tail picked out in red pigment, the body hollowed out

Gilt-bronze figures of Amitayus seated on kylin are rare. Stylistically the present figure appears to be influenced by early Yuan dynasty seated figures of Amitayus, see

a wooden sculpture attributed to the Yuan dynasty, in the British Museum collection, illustrated in Saburo Matsubara, Chugoku bukkyo chokoku shiron, vol. 3, Tokyo, 1995, pl.850.    

 

Compare also a gilt-bronze figure of Manjusri Bodhisattva seated on a mythical beast, attributed to the 14-15^th centuries, included in the Special Exhibition of Recently Acquired Gilt-Bronze Buddhist Images, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1996, cat.no. 20; and another related figure of slightly earlier period, included in the exhibition The  Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1987, cat.no. 103.

 

Buddha Amitayus (Of Infinite Light) is the deity associated with rites that ensure long life. Amitayus is closely connected to Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light and in some texts the two names are used interchangeably for the same deity. Amitayus is usually depicted seated in a meditative posture holding a kalasha containing the elixir of immortality (amrita) and leaves of the ashoka tree which symbolises ‘a long life without the mysery of disease’.