A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA MARK AND PERIOD OF XUANDE

finely cast seated in vajraparyankasana, the right hand held in bhumisparshamudra, the left in dhyanamudra, wearing a pleated robed draped over the left shoulder and falling over the crossed-legs in undulous folds, the downturned eyes and gentle features displaying a tranquil meditative expression, the long pendulous ears cut with vertical slots, the hair arranged in rows of small pointed whorls and surmounted by a conical bud-shaped ushnisha, supported by a rounded triangular double lotus pedestal and incised with the six-character reign mark  

Formerly in a French Collection.

This iconographic form in which the historical Buddha is seated with his right hand in the earth-touching position, bhumisparsha mudra, recalls a momentous episode from his spiritual biography in which he triumphs over Mara just prior to his enlightenment. Having vowed to remain in meditation until he penetrated the mystery of existence, Shakyamuni was visited by Mara, a demon associated with the veils and distractions of mundane existence. The Buddha remained unmoved by all the pleasant and unpleasant distractions with which Mara sought to deflect him from his goal. According to some traditional accounts, Mara's final assault consisted of an attempt to undermine the bodhisattva's sense of worthiness by questioning Shakyamuni's entitlement to seek the lofty goal of spiritual enlightenment and the consequent freedom from rebirth. Aided by spirits who reminded him of the countless compassionate efforts he had made on behalf of sentient beings throughout his numerous animal and human incarnations, Shakyamuni recognised that it was his destiny to be poised on the threshold of enlightenment. In response to Mara's query Shakyamuni moved his right hand from the meditation position in his lap and touched the ground stating " the earth is my witness". This act of unwavering resolve caused Mara and his army of demons and temptresses to disperse, leaving Shakyamuni to experience his great enlightenment. The episode took place at the adamantine throne, vajrasana, beneath the bhodi tree at Bodh Gaya, eastern India, a location said to have been especially empowered to expedite the Buddha's enlightenment.

Xuande bronzes are relatively rare compared with Yongle works, which seems to corroborate the official accounts of the period that make no mention of the bestowal of images on Tibetan hierarchs during the Xuande, as happened so frequently in the Yongle period, see von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Hong Kong, 2001, p. 1243. Von Schroeder records only three Xuande bronzes currently in Tibetan collections, compared with some fifty-four Yongle examples. There are, however, perhaps six Xuande examples in Chinese repositories compared with some twenty or so Yongle works. Xuande bronzes may have been commissioned more for Buddhist temples in China than as gifts to Tibetans, as these ratios seem to suggest.

The face of the present Shakyamuni is imbued with a sense of inner calm, with a gently smiling expression.  The fall of cloth is well observed in the Buddha's robe, taut over the knees and shoulder but hanging in loose folds across the chest and at the ankle.     

See a Yongle Shakyamuni replete with a tiered throne and prabhamandala, sold in these rooms, 7th October 2006, lot 808, and another in the British Museum, published in W. Zwalf, Buddhism: Art and Faith, London, 1985, no. 305, frontispiece.  The pedestals of Xuande works have a broader lotus petal design with consuquently fewer petals in each row.