Provenance:
The Collection of William S. Arnett, Atlanta, Georgia
Exhibited:
On loan to the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 1974
Sakyamuni Buddha sits in vajrasana upon a broad lotus base with large, rounded petals. His right hand is lowered in bhumisparsa mudra, the gesture associated with his enlightenment, while the left rests across his lap. His broad features are framed by elongated earlobes and surmounted by an ushnisha formed from small, closely-arranged curls. Lowered eyes, arched brows, and softly-formed lips define the face, while a small circular urna appears at the center of the forehead. Three horizontal lines cross the neck, another traditional mark associated with the Buddha.
The sculpture retains extensive polychromy, with gold across the head and body, deep blue among the tightly arranged hair curls, and touches of red and white around the eyes and lips. The robe is decorated with small gilt floral motifs, while patterned bands trace the sleeves, hem, and folds of the fabric. The reverse reveals the continuation of the garment’s decoration across the back. Such treatment reflects a long tradition of embellishing Buddhist images in wood with mineral pigments and gold. By the early Ming dynasty, selected examples were also finished with gilt lacquer, a practice that continued under the Qing.
Sculptures of this type are generally dated to the eighteenth century, during the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns, and are traditionally associated with the region of Jehol (Rehe), near Chengde in northeastern China. Their Tibetan or Tibeto-Chinese character reflects the Qing court’s strong patronage of Tibetan Buddhism and its preference for Buddhist paintings and sculptures in these styles. The use of lacquer, color, and gold belongs to this broader tradition of Qing Buddhist imagery, in which the finished appearance of an image was integral to its devotional presence.
When installed for worship, this image would likely have been backed by a halo or mandorla, the lotus-petal-shaped aureole suggesting light radiating from the deity’s body and signaling its divine status.
