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Antique Maravijaya Buddha in solid bronze
Laos
18th-18th century
The Buddha is depicted seated on a high, shuttle-shaped stepped base in the sattvaparyanka position, his right leg resting on his left leg, his right hand resting on his knee in the bumisparsha mudra position, his fingers pointing towards the ground, and his left hand placed in his lap, palm facing the sky. His body has broad shoulders and a chest swollen with the breath of meditation. The awakened one is clothed in the sangathi and uttarasangha, pressed against his body, leaving his right shoulder uncovered, with a piece of cloth draped over his left shoulder extending towards his navel. His deeply inward face is characterized by large, lenticular eyes with half-closed eyelids, surmounted by sharply curved brow ridges. A long, aquiline nose shaped like an eagle's beak overhangs a mouth with thin lips sketching a slight smile, the neck displaying the classic folds of beauty.
The skull is covered with a multitude of small spikes delineated by a fine border and topped at its summit by the ushnisha from which springs a high, flamed rasmi, symbolizing the spiritual radiance of the Enlightened One. The pointed ears, with long lobes distended by the weight of the ornaments the Buddha once wore in his worldly life, are curved outward, the auricle shaped like a snail shell, a classic attribute of Lao statuary.
The representation of our Buddha is one of the classic images in the canons of Buddhist statuary and refers to a particular episode in the life of the Enlightened One. As the latter is close to achieving Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, Mara, the god of ever-unfulfilled desires, seeks to distract the Blessed One and claims to claim the throne of Enlightenment for himself. Faced with Mara's repeated assaults, the Buddha remains impassive and, through this symbolic gesture, calls the Earth to witness his desire to achieve complete Enlightenment.
Solid bronze with brown patina
39.5 x 24 cm
Usual wear, some remnants of gilding and lacquer, minor restorations on the back of the subject
Private collection
Contact us: culturesetcivilisations@orange.fr
Ref: EG98Z9H5H7