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Lot Essay
The depiction of Buddha Shakyamuni seated on an openwork lion throne, the right hand in abhayamudra or the gesture of fearlessness and the left hand gripping the edge of the sanghati or robe, was an iconic trope between the seventh and ninth centuries in Kashmir. In earlier depictions, such as in the current work, the facial features are wide and rounded; the Buddha is seated upon an unadorned cushion; and the sanghati is triple-pleated at the chest and shoulder. By the ninth century, the facial features become crisp and elongated; the snailshell curls tight and stylized; the sanghati elaborately pleated; the unadorned cushion replaced with downwards-facing lotus petals; and the lion throne replaced with a stepped rectangular base.
While the lion throne motif is visible as early as the second century BCE in Kushan sculpture from the ancient region of Gandhara and Mathura, the placement of a seated yaksha between the lions is only found in the Kashmiri context and adjacent regions influenced by Kashmiri sculpture from this medieval period.
Compare the current work with the nearly identical iconography of the figure of Buddha Shakyamuni that centers a contemporaneous bronze Buddhist triad from Kashmir, previously sold at Christie’s New York, 25 March 2004, lot 32. Also compare the iconography of this Buddha, the raised pearls on the upper border of the throne base, and the lion and yaksha throne with another seventh century Kashmiri bronze figure of Buddha Shakyamuni from the collection of José Pereyra Käfer, Argentina, sold at Christie’s New York, 19 March 2014, lot 1040.
The central figure of Shakyamuni is also closely related to a figure of Buddha Muchalinda, formerly in the Pan-Asian Collection and illustrated in P. Pal, Bronzes of Kashmir, 1975, cat. no. 23, p. 94-95—most notably in the similarity in the mudras and hand position, and the details of the lion and yaksha throne.
An extent lug at verso indicates that a separately cast nimbus or aureole would have fitted in the original group.
While the lion throne motif is visible as early as the second century BCE in Kushan sculpture from the ancient region of Gandhara and Mathura, the placement of a seated yaksha between the lions is only found in the Kashmiri context and adjacent regions influenced by Kashmiri sculpture from this medieval period.
Compare the current work with the nearly identical iconography of the figure of Buddha Shakyamuni that centers a contemporaneous bronze Buddhist triad from Kashmir, previously sold at Christie’s New York, 25 March 2004, lot 32. Also compare the iconography of this Buddha, the raised pearls on the upper border of the throne base, and the lion and yaksha throne with another seventh century Kashmiri bronze figure of Buddha Shakyamuni from the collection of José Pereyra Käfer, Argentina, sold at Christie’s New York, 19 March 2014, lot 1040.
The central figure of Shakyamuni is also closely related to a figure of Buddha Muchalinda, formerly in the Pan-Asian Collection and illustrated in P. Pal, Bronzes of Kashmir, 1975, cat. no. 23, p. 94-95—most notably in the similarity in the mudras and hand position, and the details of the lion and yaksha throne.
An extent lug at verso indicates that a separately cast nimbus or aureole would have fitted in the original group.