STATUE DE BODHISATTVA EN PORCELAINE BRUNE REHAUSSÉE D'OR

This unusual iconographic pose, with both arms raised in a gesture of offering, is extremely rare among Buddhist images of the Qing period. The inspiration of this unusual kneeling posture is modeled on Ming dynasty, Xuande period, gilt-bronze. Compare the Ming gilt-bronze kneeling bodhisattva in the Berti Aschmann Foundation, Museum Reitberg, Zurich, illustrated in On the Path to Enlightenment, 1995, p. 122, no. 72, which is slightly smaller at 21 cm. high.

A nearly identical figure dated to the Qianlong period is illustrated by I.L. Legeza, A Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Malcolm MacDonald Collection of Chinese Ceramics, London, 1972, p. 79, no. 384. Three related polychrome figures of seated Sakyamuni, each with varied hand gestures, are illustrated in Monarchy and its Buddhist Way: Tibetan-Buddhist Ritual Implements, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1999, no. 23; and a smaller seated Buddha (15.9 cm. high) in the collection of the Nanjing Museum, is illustrated in Qing Imperial Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1995, no. 72. Compare, also, a similar figure executed in gilt-bronze and champlevé enamel dated to the Qianlong period, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, illustrated by S. W. Bushell, Chinese Art, London, 1924, vol. II, fig. 94.