STATUETTE DE BOUDDHA COURONNÉ EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE DORÉ TIBET, CIRCA XIVE SIÈCLE Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4857 13 cm (5 1/8 in.) high Footnotes: A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF CROWNED BUDDHA TIBET, CIRCA 14TH CENTURY 西藏 約十四世紀 銅鎏金寶冠佛像 Provenance: With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s Koller, Zurich, 27 and 28 May, 1988, lot 130 (unsold) This image can be interpreted to represent either Akshobhya, assuming it was part of a set of Five Presiding Buddhas, or Crowned Shakyamuni, if it was intended as a singular piece or the central element of an ensemble. While Shakyamuni's renunciation of royal birth would seem to stand in opposition to his representation with a crown, Bautze-Picron has shown that the coalescence of Indian political, devotional, and philosophical developments resulted in Shakyamuni's spiritual authority being emphasized with regalia by the end of the First Millenium CE (Bautze-Picron, The Bejewelled Buddha from India to Burma, 2010). This iconographic tradition was adopted in Nepal by artists who may have promoted it in Tibet, where it is often depicted in bronzes with strong Nepalese stylistic traits produced for Tibetan patrons. This might be the case of the present lot, which features Nepalese characteristics such as a broad forehead and robust physique. Compare with examples sold at Sotheby's, New York, 23 March 2007, lot 53; and Sotheby's, New York, 22 March 2018, lot 1035. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com