A very rare early gilt-bronze fragmentary votive figure of Maitreya China, Northern Wei dynasty, second-half 5th Century

the deity standing with feet spread apart upon a pedestal of inverted lotus lappets set on a fragmentary corner-leg square base incised on three sides with a frieze of Hellenistic- or Sassanian-influenced panels enclosing splayed florets, and flanked by columns of vertically clustered florets and chevron bands, the tightly gathered folds of the splayed robes looping up from the legs and draped across the neck to fall over his left shoulder, the oval head in high-relief with incised features and ridged usnisha, framed by ring-punched aureole and circular halo of radiating lappets, the leaf-shaped mandorla incised with rising flames within a ring-punched raised filet, and outer border of eleven smaller Buddha images seated within flames, the reverse of the mandorla finely cast in raised relief with the 'Pensive Maitreya' seated with one leg crossed over the other, with the pendant foot resting on a lotus, beside an arching bodhi tree, and encircled by further smaller Buddha images and with the unusual incised accents of a Naga-serpent emerging from the leaves of the tree, and a long-necked kundika water-vessel, the proper right side of the mandorla and rear of the pedestal base now lacking, stand

Although fragmentary, the present image is an extremely rare and finely executed votive image, combining complex religious imagery with technically advanced features for its type. The messianic Maitreya cult gained prominence in northern China during the fifth century and the present image is notable for depicting two versions of the same deity; standing frontally wearing monastic robes draped in the Hellenistic-influenced Gupta style with long looping swathes of cloth rising from the legs and across the shoulders, and (on the reverse) dressed as a princely bodhisattva with crossed ropes of jewels, foliate tiara and flared Indic skirts, with one hand drawn up to the chin representing the deity's deep contemplation of, and compassion for, the suffering of the earthly realms. Complementing his role as triumphant savior, Maitreya is joined by representations of Buddhas of the Past, encircling both depictions on the front and back of the mandorla, thereby linking Maitreya's advent to the culmination of history, or the fulfillment of the linear progression of all past existences.

The 'foreign' origin of Buddhism is given clear homage within this votive image through the style of the depictions of the deity himself, as well as the decorative vocabulary and frieze-and-column layout of the pedestal base. As such, the present image is a classic example of early Tuoba Wei converts utilizing motifs from Sassanian Central Asia and Guptan India to express representations of the divine within their new religion. Technically too, the present image is notably advanced in its multiple layers of relief casting, which needed to be pre-determined in the wax mold-models prior to casting. After casting, the cold bronze was further incised and punched with much of the linear embellishments, such as some of the ancillary Buddha images and the unusual Naga-serpent and kundika-vessel elements, prior to gilding. Notwithstanding the loss to the mandorla's side, it is remarkable that so much of the quality of this detailed work is still evident.

The closest comparison to the present image is illustrated in Saburo Matsubara, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, Tokyo, 1966, pls. 24 and 25, where the standing front image is encircled by five Tathagata Buddhas in raised relief, and the reverse has a similar 'Pensive Maitreya' beneath a tree but without further embellishments, with an inscription dated to 471 AD. Compare also pl. 26, with almost identical robes, hand-positions and facial features to the main standing image, but simple flame mandorla, with an inscription dated to 475 AD.