CHINA, TANG DYNASTY OR LATER

The present figure likely represents the Future Buddha, Maitreya, who in the Chinese context is often represented in the so-called 'Western' pose, seated on a throne with both feet pendent. In contrast to representations of Maitreya as a bodhisattva, where he is adorned in princely garb and jewels, Maitreya Buddha wears simple robes. According to Mahayana Buddhism, Maitreya will descend from the Tushita Heaven when Shakyamuni's teachings of the dharma have died out, and eventually become the Future Buddha, initiating a new era of peace and prosperity. As a deity, Maitreya was extremely popular in China from the 4th through 8th centuries, when internecine strife in China led many to believe the time was right for his arrival. For a closely related, though much weathered, example in the Musée Cernuschi, see O. Sirén, Chinese Sculpture: From the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, vol. II, 1925, (1998 ed.), pl. 529 A.