A parcel-gilt copper and repoussé figure of Maitreya, Inner Mongolia, Dolonnor, 18th century | 內蒙古 多洛諾 十八世紀 鎏金銅彌勒佛坐像

This parcel-gilt copper image of the bodhisattva Maitreya sits with legs pendant (bhadrasana) and feet resting on a lotus below, his hands in the teaching posture (dharmachakra mudra) wearing regal jewellery and holding the stems of lotuses bearing his emblems of a stupa on the left and a water pot (kalasha) on the right. Compare three important related Inner Mongolian parcel-gilt copper repoussé images depicting Vajrapani, Manjushri and Avalokiteshvara in the Folkens Museum Etnografiska, Stockholm, in Rhie and Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, London, 1991, cat. nos 1, 35, 36.

鎏金銅彌勒坐像，呈菩薩之姿，垂足端坐（吉祥坐），雙足輕置於蓮台之上，結法輪印（教授印），身披瓔珞，寶飾華美。左飾蓮蓮花莖，花頂為佛塔，右飾寶瓶。可參考內蒙古三尊鎏金銅錘揲佛像，分別為金剛手菩薩、文殊菩薩及觀音菩薩，現藏於斯德哥爾摩民俗博物館。詳見Rhie與Thurman所著《智慧與慈悲：西藏聖藝術》，倫敦，1991年，圖版1，35及36。