STATUETTE DE BOUDDHA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE DORÉ TIBET, XVIIE SIÈCLE Tibetan number inscribed on reverse '20' Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4843 12.5 cm (4 7/8 in.) high Footnotes: A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA TIBET, 17TH CENTURY 西藏 十七世紀 銅鎏金佛陀像 Provenance: With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s This image depicts the Buddha Shakyamuni with his arm outstretched, calling upon the Earth to witness his enlightenment while his other hand gently cradles an alms bowl. Because of the inscribed Tibetan number located behind his seat, it is likely that this bronze belongs to a retinue of thirty-five Confession Buddhas. These Buddhas are mentioned in the Triskhandhadharma-sutra, or the Sutra of the Three Heaps, a Mahayana text that was first introduced by the Gelugpa founder Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419). It provides a route to absolution for those who had violated their Buddhist vows by instructing practitioners to offer gifts to the thirty-five Confession Buddhas. While the fine application of lapis blue pigment suggests that this bronze was intended for a Tibetan patron, Shakyamuni's slender proportions and large, beaked nose indicate that the artist was working in a revivalist style of the Nepalese Licchavi period (c. 400-750 CE). For comparisons with other similar images of the Buddha in bhumisparsha mudra and holding an alms bowl, see one sold at Nagel Auktionen, Stuttgart, 6 June 2015, lot 1550, and another image sold at Bonhams, San Francisco, 18 June 2007, lot 616. Also compare with similar bronzes in the Licchavi-Revival mode, for instance a larger image of Maitreya sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 21 December 2021, lot 1006. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com