A GILT COPPER ALLOY SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA TRIAD QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURYPremium Lot - Online Bidding Will Not Be AvailableA GILT COPPER ALLOY SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA TRIADQING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURYHimalayan Art Resources item no. 4701 43.5 cm (17 1/8 in.) high清 十八世紀 銅鎏金釋迦牟尼三尊像 Provenance: Herholdt Jensen Auctioneer, Copenhagen, 1995Danish Private Collection This harmonious triad depicting Shakyamuni Buddha flanked by two bodhisattvas, likely Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani, presents the sage with a broad, beautifully proportioned frame seated in tranquil meditation. The refined casting of the hands brought together in the meditation mudra and their elegant suspension above his lap is one of many clear markers of the bronze's high quality. In a very distinct manner, the Buddha is seated before an aureole, conveying his light radiating throughout the universe, and a canopy of fruit-laden tress surmounted by a wish-fulfilling gem, at once recalling his enlightenment under the bodhi tree and the great bounty his auspicious presence provides. The inspired ensemble exhibits a stylistic integration of Mongolian and Qing registers, reflecting the political alliance between these civilizations in the 18th century, in which Tibetan Buddhism played a pivotal role. The handsome figural representation of the Buddha and the bodhisattvas draws from those of the heralded Zanabazar school, which became synonymous with the independent spirit and national pride of the Khalkha Mongols, who occupied Mongolia with its capital at Ulan Bator. Yet subtle differences in appearance and execution, as well as certain motifs, betray the work of an artist more accustomed to the techniques and designs of the Qing workshops, which were primarily located in Beijing and Dolonnor, Inner Mongolia. This distinctive triad, almost complete save for the wiry, separately cast lotus stems that would have hugged the outer shoulders of each bodhisattva, evokes the multiethnic and cosmopolitan character of Mongolian and Qing Buddhist art. As Rhie explains, "The convergence of politics, religion, and art became more pronounced and internationally consequential... as Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism become enfolded into the imperial strategy of the early Qing emperors of Manchu China... By the early eighteenth century Emperor Kangxi (r. 1662-1722), second ruler of the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644-1911), had founded a number of major Buddhist monasteries in Inner Mongolia as part of his strategy to consolidate Qing power in the northern and western border regions of the empire. In the second half of the eighteenth century this effective strategy was extended, invigorated, modified, and solidified by his grandson, the fourth ruler, Emperor Qianlong (r. 1735-95). Though these two long-lived emperors appear to have personally embraced the Tibetan form of Buddhism, their actions also were strongly motivated by the politics of empire building and the desire to control the feared Mongol clans." (Thurman & Rhie, A Shrine for Tibet, 2009, pp. 29-30) The present triad borrows from the Zanabazar school. Ushering in a period of artistic renewal in Mongolia, Bogdo Gegen Zanabazar (1635–1723) was a chosen leader descended from Chinggis Khan, an incarnate lama, and a true Renaissance man. He was both the most powerful political and religious figure among the independent Khalkha Mongols—instrumental in their decision to give allegiance to the Manchu Qing in 1691—and a visionary artist who created a workshop of supreme sophistication. Before establishing his workshop, Zanabazar sought religious training in Tibet from both the Fifth Dalai Lama at the Potala, and the Panchen Lama at Tashi Lhunpo, and after visiting various monasteries in the Tsang region, he brought back skilled craftsmen on his return to Mongolia. With the techniques that he mastered, he honed one of the most sublime sculptural styles of the time—an eclectic synthesis of Indo-Nepalese sensuality, Tibetan power, and Chinese precision, infused with his own unique inventiveness. Zanabazar's figural compositions are seen in two examples, namely a seated figure of Buddha in the Qing imperial collection (to which it was presumably gifted) presently on display at the Hong Kong Palace Museum (fig. 1; Luo [ed.], Classics of the Forbidden City: Tibetan Buddhist Sculptures, 2009, p. 137, pl. 71), and a standing figure of Maitreya in the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge (1963.5). As Rhie notes, "The body forms of [Zanabazar's] sculptures are powerfully volumetric but so smoothly rounded that they appear highly perfected, much like the classical mode of Gupta Indian sculpture, though without the subtleties of fleshy modelling... The faces all have a similar youthful, full appearance reminiscent of the Gupta and Pala forms with smoothed shapes, gently curved eyes, and a rather small mouth with slightly pendulous lower lip." (Rhie, 2009, p. 34). Zanabazar's work clearly informed the modeling of this triad, namely each figure's cinched waist, full chest, broad shoulders, and soft, rounded physiognomy. This is even more apparent when comparing another, more holistically Qing, triad of the same subject, whose figures, despite being fuller-bodied, are stiffer and less sensuous (fig. 2). However, despite the present sculpture's affinity with Zanabazar's figures, there are subtle departures upon closer inspection. This is more noticeable in the bodhisattvas, for instance, which have slightly sharper features with straighter brows and more pointed chins than the Harvard Maitreya. Some technical features also differ while being more typical of Qing court production. Whereas Zanabazar had a rather unique method of soldering his figures to their pedestals (Rhie, 2009, p. 34), the present assemblage comprises five separately cast elements (three figures with their lotus pedestals, the plinth, and aureole) that are not affixed but combined using tenons and mortices. Moreover, regarding the floral motifs embellishing the robe hugging the central Buddha's powerful, Zanabazar-esque frame: the manner in which they are engraved and that they decorate not just the hems but also form roundels within the otherwise plain body of the robe, are very much in keeping with Qing bronzes, exemplified by a superlative Qing Shariputra, formerly in the Goldman Collection (von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981, p. 528, no. 150C, and Sotheby's, New York, 21 March 2002, lot 154). Meanwhile, the non-figural components of the triad—the plinth and aureole—also display strong Qing sensibilities. The almost painterly treatment of the reticulated stems and unfurling lotus that centers the rectangular base guarded by a set of four snow lions clearly borrows from Qing porcelain, evinced by a Qianlong yangcai enameled 'lotus' vase in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (fig. 3; Liao [ed.], Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch'ien-lung Reign, 2008, pp. 130-1, pl. 40). Meanwhile, the distinctive backplate bears little resemblance to any of Zanabazar's known works and may derive from a particular set of thangkas commissioned at Tashi Lhunpo in Tsang, Central Tibet, and gifted by the Third Panchen Lama, Lobzang Palden Yeshe (1738-80), to the Qianlong emperor (HAR set no. 3754). This enigmatic set of thangkas depicts the Seven Buddhas of the past, each seated under the canopy of a fruit-laden tree rendered with such prominence that it obscures part of the aureole. The set was enthusiastically received by the emperor, who commissioned painted copies and immortalized it in stone, directing its carved replication into an octagonal pillar, the Qifota (Seven Buddha Pagoda), originally located north of the Five Dragon Pavilion at Beihai, Beijing (Berger, Empire of Emptiness, 2003, p. 186). Furthermore, one of the imperially commissioned copies (HAR 33688) resembles the lotus pedestal with on which the central Buddha of this triad sits, which confirms to the idiomatic circular shape and upturned direction of Zanabazar's designs but depart entirely in the representation of the petals themselves. Given its overall and immediate resemblance to Zanabazar's work, but an execution more aligned with Qing workshops, this triad possibly served as an astute gift from the emperor to a Mongolian political or religious leader. The Manchu rulers recognized the need to forge alliances with the Mongols and made several frequent overtures to their leaders. They hosted annual gatherings at the summer retreat at Chengde, which included Mongol festivities such as hunts and wrestling matches. Mongol Gelug lamas officiated over Yonghegong, the imperial Tibetan Buddhist temple in Beijing. And the emperors sponsored a prolific increase of temples throughout Mongolia, furnished with Tibetan Buddhist art dispatched from Qing foundries in Dolonnor and Beijing. Leaders of both civilizations recognized the religion's potential to promote cohesion and common ground among them. A triad such as this, paying homage to the proud cultural achievement of the Mongols, might have shown great respect, while also reminding its recipient of Zanabazar's ardent support for their allegiance to the Qing empire.For the figures listed in this essay, please refer to our printed or digital catalogue. ---------------------以下为软件翻译，仅供参考---------------------