A SILVER INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF A BODHISATTVA


SWAT VALLEY, CIRCA 600Himalayan Art Resources item no.61742 16 cm (6 1/2 in.) high
|Of significant art historical value, this is one of the earliest surviving bronze Buddhist sculptures from the Swat Valley. Among about half a dozen known examples, it has the highest sculptural quality and has also survived in better condition. While lacking definitive attributes, the subject of this bronze is probably Maitreya, who is often portrayed raising his right hand in the gesture of reassurance, with the left holding a kundika or lotus. But the figure could also represent Avalokiteshvara Padmapani. Neither resembling earlier sculptures from Gandhara, nor later sculptures from Swat or Kashmir, this Mahayana bronze of a Bodhisattva exemplifies a unique sculptural style evoking the exciting multiculturalism of the ancient Silk Road.     The dissolution of the Kushan Empire in the ancient region of Gandhara, coupled with Central Asian incursions, resulted in Gandharan Buddhist communities becoming increasingly migratory by the 6th century. Under these conditions, small devotional images made of bronze gradually replaced large schist and stucco sculptures. Buddhism still thrived in a few locations such as Swat, where bronze casters formed a new aesthetic that incorporated elements from various cultures who controlled portions of the ancient region of Gandhara (modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan) at various times.   In the present sculpture, much of the Gandharan taste for Classical realism is lost, yet the looped pleats still arguably harken back to its emphasis on prominent vesture. However, the Bodhisattva's facial features, bare chest, and slender waist all incorporate Gupta idioms from Northern India. In discussion of a related example, Pal explains the similarities with a sculptural masterpiece of a Bodhisattva from Sarnath in National Museum, New Delhi (Pal, The Ideal Image, New York, 1978, p.117, nos.70&p.20, fig.4, respectively). Meanwhile, as Pal also notes, the strip of cloth hanging down on either side of his head is seen in earlier and contemporaneous Sasanian figures from present-day Iran. A few other examples are published alongside Pal's bronze in von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, pp.90-1, 9C-D & 9F-H, the present bronze comparing favorably to all of them. Provenance Namkha Dorje, Singapore, 21 November 2010 Private European Collection 銅錯銀菩薩立像 斯瓦特河谷，約六百年 喜馬拉雅藝術資源網61742號 高16釐米（6 1/2英吋）   1,800,000-2,200,000港元   此尊菩薩像為現存最古老的斯瓦特河谷造像之一，具有重要的藝術歷史價值。在尚存僅約六尊的已知類似作品當中，本拍品無論藝術性還是品相皆更為上乘。雖然缺乏明確的特徵元素，此造像所塑造的很可能是彌勒佛，其形像常表現為右手施無畏印，左手執軍持或蓮花；然而本作品所表現的也可能是蓮華手菩薩。其獨特的藝術風格既不像早期的犍陀羅造像，也不同於後期的斯瓦特或喀什米爾造像，是古代絲綢之路地區多元文化主義的體現。 由於貴霜帝國的解體，加上中亞的入侵，導致古代犍陀羅地區的佛教信眾不得不遷徙，提高了六世紀時此地區的人口流動性。在這些種種因素下，小型銅像逐漸取代了大型的片岩和灰泥造像。佛教中心也隨之遷移到斯瓦特等地。斯瓦特的匠師融合了曾在犍陀羅地區（即現今的阿富汗和巴基斯坦）盛行的多種文化元素，重新詮釋了當地特有的美學風格。 雖然此尊造像並未沿襲犍陀羅造像的古典寫實風格，然而其對環狀衣褶的處理亦保有犍陀羅遺風。而菩薩的面部特徵、袒露上身，以及細長的腰部，都體現了來自印度北部的笈多風格。帕爾博士在討論一個相關作品時，解釋了其與新德里國家博物館的一尊鹿野苑造像的相似之處（參見Pal，《The Ideal Image》，紐約，1978年，頁117，編號70和頁20，圖4）。同時，帕爾博士也指出，其面部左右下垂寶帶亦可見於早期或同時期的薩珊（即現今伊朗）造像。另有幾尊相似作品著錄於施羅德，《印度與西藏的銅造像》，香港，1981年，頁90-1，9C-D和9F-H。 來源 南卡‧多傑，新加坡，2010年11月21日 歐洲私人收藏