STATUETTE DE BOUDDHA COURONNÉ EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE DORÉ TIBET, XVE/XVIE SIÈCLE Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4629 25 cm (9 7/8 in.) high Footnotes: A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF CROWNED BUDDHA TIBET 15TH/16TH CENTURY 西藏 十五/十六世紀 銅鎏金寶冠佛像 Provenance: With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s The subject of the crowned Buddha depicted in this sculpture is one which remains part of a larger visual and historical dialogue. The posture with the right hand held in the earth touching gesture, the diaphanous robes with fishtail pleats that fall over the left shoulder and the vajra placed on top of the base are associations most typically made with the historical Buddha Shakyamuni at the moment he defeated Mara, the demon who sought to prevent him from attaining enlightenment. The historical Buddha in that archetypal iconographical form, is presented most typically without adornment, referencing that once a prince, he gave up his title and left the palace walls for spiritual pursuits. In some examples though, which have their visual origins in Eastern India like the Bihar inlaid bronze in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1993.311a, b), are representations of the Buddha wearing an ornamented crown, as seen in the sculpture here. In some instances, the crown iconography could be interpreted as representing a Buddha, of which there are many, featured in a celestial realm. Another explanation, based on early Vajrayana textual sources, is that the crown represents the moment after Shakyamuni's enlightenment whereby he left his physical body and was sent into a celestial realm to be coronated by other heavenly Buddhas. Further interpretations, consider this iconography as a dual expression of both the cosmic Buddha Vairocana and his earthly emanation, Shakyamuni Buddha. (Behrendt, 'Tibet and India: Buddhist Traditions and Transformations', The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 71, No. 3, (WINTER 2014, p.18) More recent scholarship suggests that the crowned Buddha arose within Buddhist communities as a way to confront the growing political and religious power held by Hindus in India, beginning in the first millennium but especially evident in the late fifth century. By emphasizing the Buddha's spiritual authority, Buddhists could assert themselves within a growing context which gave favorable esteem to the Hindu pantheon of deities. (Bautze-Picron, The Bejewelled Buddha from India to Burma, 2010) Another example of this subject was featured in the first part of the Claude de Marteau sale at Bonhams, Paris, 14 June 2022, lot 50. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com