A GILT COPPER SHRINE TO AMITAYUS

NEPAL, DATED SAMVAT 853 (1733 CE)

Footnotes

Dated by inscription and replete with masterful details, this superbly cast enthroned Amitayus is a seminal piece of late Newari sculpture. With an authoritative expression, The Buddha of Boundless Life, bedecked with fine silks and jewelry, sits above an impressive rectangular throne guarded by lions, which seem to sniff out the air for intruders. They flank a throne cover with a triratna medallion nestled within foliate scrolls of high relief. Every lotus petal below has upturned tips and open work edges, the latter being a hallmark of later Newari casting. Below them is a two-line inscription, translated:

"In the auspicious year of 853, on the sixth day of the bright half of the Jyeshṭha month, Pushya nakshatra, Tuesday [May-June 1733 CE)], mother Jaya Lakshmi together with her daughter Dhana Lakshmi commissioned this image of Sri Amitayu at the passing of her son Kṛishna Dhana into the [paradise of] Sukhavati. [May it be] auspicious."

We are grateful to Dr. Gautama Vajracharya and Ian Alsop for their assistance with the translation.

The inscription is very typical of the Kathmandu valley, and there is no doubt the bronze was commissioned and made in Nepal. However, several elements are more in keeping with Buddhist bronzes produced in Tibet, Mongolia, and China. For example, the underside of the rectangular throne is incised with a visvavajra, which consecrates the attached figure immediately above. However, the practice of physically consecrating sculptures by inserting various materials and affixing a baseplate is traditionally not observed in the Kathmandu valley, whereas it is a requirement in Tibetan Buddhist sculpture, also adopted in Mongolia and China.

Moreover, the treatment of the jewelry and silks are idiomatic of Imperial Chinese bronzes and thangkas of the Qing dynasty. Compare, for instance, a Qianlong period bronze of White Tara in the Qing Palace Collection published in Zangchuan Fojiao Zaoxiang, Hong Kong, 2008, p.258, no.247. The Newars were superior and flexible metalworkers whose skills were employed far and wide. This awareness of broader tastes shown in a locally commissioned sculpture, suggests that it was made by a caster versed in foreign styles either following the exchange of objects and expertise through a far-reaching network, or by firsthand experience having worked for a foreign atelier(s) in Tibet, Mongolia, or China before returning to Nepal.

Of equal curiosity, the bronze appears to be one of the earliest representations of this type of image, with Amitayus seated on a rectangular throne with a pendent cover in the center. This image is made famous some 37 years later by the Qianlong Emperor who commissioned 10,000 examples to commemorate his 70th birthday in 1780. Of superior quality, the current lot would appear to be a seminal antecedent.

Published
Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p. 391, no. 107D.
Helmut Uhlig, Das Bild des Buddha, Berlin, 1979, no. 94.


銅鎏金無量壽佛坐像
尼泊爾，據銘文薩姆瓦特853年（公元1733年）
分兩部分空心鑄造，附帶鑄造之背光 。
喜馬拉雅藝術資源網2117號
高 30.5 釐米 （12 英寸）

600,000 - 800,000 港元

此尊由銘文斷代的無量壽佛坐像精美絕倫，細節刻畫淋漓盡致，為尼瓦爾晚期的巔峰之作。無量壽佛法相莊嚴，身披絲綢瓔珞，端坐於耀目的方形寶座之上，四周守衛的獅子仿佛在嗅聞冒犯者的氣息。寶座覆蓋飾以"三寶"（triratna），以高浮雕葉狀滾紋環繞。下方蓮瓣的瓣尖上翹，花瓣邊緣鏤空，後者正是尼瓦爾晚期作品之特征。蓮瓣下方刻有兩行銘文，譯為：

"在吉祥的 853 年，逝瑟吒月白分第六天，Pushya nakshatra，星期二（公元 1733 年五月至六月），母親 Jaya Lakshmi 和她的女兒 Dhana Lakshmi 一起，在她的兒子 Kṛishna Dhana 靈魂升入極樂世界之時，委托鑄造此尊造像。[祈請] 吉祥。"

謹在此特別鳴謝 Gautama Vajracharya 博士和 Ian Alsop 協助翻譯此處銘文。

該銘文常見於加德滿都河谷地區，因而此尊造像毫無疑問創作於尼泊爾。然而，造像的若干元素卻體現了西藏、蒙古與中原的風格。比如，方形寶座內底有為其上造像封底開光，封底上刻有十字金剛杵。然而，裝藏開光並非加德滿都谷地之傳統，而是藏傳佛教造像的基本步驟，也為蒙古與中原所采用。

此外，對珠寶與綢緞的刻畫也體現了清朝宮廷造像與唐卡的風格。與其相似的作品包括一尊清宮舊藏的乾隆時期白度母像，參見藏傳佛教造像，香港，2008 年，頁 258，247 號。尼瓦爾人是技藝精湛、手法靈活的金屬工匠，其鑄刻工藝遠播四海。此尊委托於尼泊爾的造像展現出如此多樣的風格，表明其出自通曉異國風格的鑄工之手，他可能從交換到尼泊爾的藝術品中獲得靈感，亦可能曾親自實踐於西藏、蒙古或中原的作坊中。

同樣有趣的是，對於此類描繪無量壽佛坐於帶中央垂緞之方形寶座的設計，此尊造像應為最早案例之一。1780 年，此尊造像鑄成約 37 年後，乾隆皇帝為慶賀七十大壽命人制作了10,000 尊風格相似之無量壽佛像，之後此類設計才廣為人知。而此拍品無疑為品質一流之先驅之作。

著錄
馮·施羅德，印度與西藏的銅造像，香港，1981 年，頁 391，107D 號。
Helmut Uhlig，Das Bild des Buddha，柏林，1979 年，94 號。