Large Bronze Pala-Revival Buddha

This splendid, finely-cast bronze image of a seated, crowned  Buddha emulates the medieval Pala style of Bihar, north-eastern India (8th-12th century) most typically seen in carved stone steles dating to around the 10th century.

Original Pala bronzes and portable stone steles were introduced to China through exchanges between Tibetan monasteries and the Yuan Court (1279-1368). Prior to that, they made their way to Tibet from Bihar carried by Buddhist pilgrims and no doubt exported by traders too and then later, when Bihar was subject to Muslim invasion, Buddhist bronzes and portable steles were sent to Tibet and elsewhere in the Buddhist world for safekeeping. The steles were important for the dissemination of Buddhist teaching but also helped spread the Pala aesthetic.

The Qing Palace Collection had a large collection of Pala examples to draw on by the 18th century, when suddenly, there was a resurgence of interest in the Pala style in China. This example follows the Pala style quite closely, although more the styling of Pala carved stone images more than Pala bronzes.

Around the same time, there was a revival of 11th century Nepalese style in China as well. The bronze here possible also shows some influence from this although Nepalese art in the 11th century of course drew on Pala styles.

The Buddha is shown with a serene face and seated in dhyanasana or  padmasana on a stepped, crenulated, double-lotus throne with the right hand in bhumispara and the left in dhyana mudra. The image wears a beaded necklace, and beneath that, a foliate necklace. The lotus petals on the throne have been carefully delineated.

The head has an eight-pointed crown which includes four triangular leafed elements and four columns with floral elements. The ears are elongated and decorated with large floral disc upper ornaments with flowing ribbons and lower floral rosette earrings with further outflying ribbons.

There is a beaded headband with a central flower decoration.

The forehead has a clear urna mark in relief.

The feet are realistically cast and the toes are prominent, well-defined and fleshy as seems to be the case with Sino Pala-revival bronzes.

The image here shows the Buddha seated and wearing the robes of a monk, but elaborate court jewellery such as necklaces, extravagant earrings and an eight-pointed crown.

The depiction of the Buddha as a crowned and bejewelled figure gained popularity during the Pala period. Such a depiction seems at odds with the Buddha’s renunciation of the material world, though it was intended to show the Buddha as the chakravartin or Universal Sovereign. Subsequent texts then compared his Enlightenment to the coronation of a king.

The throne is cast on each side with two protective lions with heads that come right out of the throne. They flank three diminutive deities or supplicants at the front and beneath a caparisoned elephant. The throne decorated with such elements is highly typical of Pala imagery.

The Buddha’s posture represents a scene from the Enlightment. The posture, known as ‘calling the earth to witness’, represents the moment when the Buddha was seated in meditation under the Bodhi tree during the evening before his enlightenment. Mara asked him to name anyone who would give evidence that he had given alms, and the Buddha motioned to the earth with his right hand and said that the earth would bear witness to that – in a previous incarnation when he was known as Vessantara, he had given alms to such an extent that the earth had begun to quake.

The high relief of the lotus petals on the base, and the upturned petal ends suggest Nepalese influence.

The image was cast as a single piece, but with holes at the back of the platform suggesting that this bronze originally was accompanied by a backing plate or aureole.

See an 18th century Chinese Pala-revival bronze offered at Bonhams Hong Kong.

The example here has a chocolate-brown patina. It is free of any losses or repairs. As mentioned, originally the image was intended to have an aureole though this seems long gone, as is often the case. Overall, it is an impressive example, that is larger than normal.