A RARE BRONZE FIGURE OF THE INFANT BUDDHA

Estimated Value:

2.000 € - 3.000 €

Result:

2.590 € incl. Premium and VAT

Description:

China, Song to early Ming dynasty
H. 21,6 cm
Buddha as a small child is one of the images that only became part of the Tibetan Buddhist pictorial treasure in China. Buddha's birthday is celebrated on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, when the figurines are sprinkled with water and purified. This "washing of the Buddhas", the miraculous events described in the Lalitavistara-Sútra ("The Detailed Account of the Play") are commemorated: On the way to her parental home, Queen Mäyä unexpectedly gave birth to a son in the grove of Lumbini, who was conceived and bathed by the gods. The child took seven steps in all directions, with lotuses blossoming under his feet. He spoke the words: "I am the best in the world, I am the most excellent in the world. This is my last birth. I will bring the end of birth, old age, death and suffering." The boy is standing on a lotus pedestal base above a stand, with the left hand and index finger pointing upward, and the right hand and index finger pointing down in the posture of taking possession of the world, the figure wearing a dhoti on his sturdy frame.
Collection of the German painter Joachim Schlotterbeck (1926-2007), Wuerzburg, sold by him from his collection at Nagel, 14.10.1991, lot 2021
On the Buddha’s birthday, temples provide purified water, tea, or five-colored water for followers to pour over the shoulders of infant Buddha statues. Because of this ceremonial use, statues tend to be made of bronze and small in size, around 10-30 cm tall - Minor wear, section above the feet at the legs slightly restored, slightly chipped

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