A RARE SILVER-INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA KASHMIR, 7TH CENTURY

cast seated in vajraparyankasana on a lotus disc with a band of filaments and pendent lotus petal lappets, dressed in loose robes draped over the left shoulder and leaving the chest bare, the hands held in dharmacakra mudra, the serene face depicted with downcast eyes beneath elongated arched brows and an urna, the eyes and urna inlaid with silver, flanked by a pair of pierced pendulous earlobes, the hair tightly knotted and surmounted by an ushnisha, all supported on a rectangular plinth with a constricted band, the patina a lustrous golden-brown colour

Collection of Professor Samuel Eilenberg (1913-98).
Collection of Simon Digby (1932-2010).
John Siudmak Asian Art, New York, March 2011.

Indian and Himalayan sculpture and thankas from the collection of the late Simon Digby, John Siudmak Asian Art, New York, 2011, cat. no. 15.

Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, pl. 14G.
John Siudmak, The Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Ancient Kashmir and its Influences, Leiden and Boston, 2013, p. 274, pl. 125.

The figure has been preserved in very good condition. The original casting flaws and spacers are clearly visible in the catalogue photos, as are insignificant surface wear. The patina is particularly smooth and lustrous, a slightly richer and darker colour than in the photos.
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When first published by Ulrich von Schroeder as the property of the renowned collector Professor Samuel Eilenberg, this bronze was thought to date from the ninth century. However, the discovery within the last twenty years of an important inscribed Kashmir bronze in a Tibetan monastery collection has prompted a re-evaluation of Kashmir sculpture that has allowed this rare image of Buddha to be re-dated to the seventh century. The bronze is one of a small corpus of statues of Buddha seated in vajraparyankasana with hands in dharmachakramudra surviving from the early Karkota period (600-855); compare a 650-670 seated Buddha in Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, illustrated by John Siudmak, The Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Ancient Kashmir and its Influences, Leiden/Boston, 2013, p. 269, pl. 122, with the same subtly undulating folds of the diaphanous robe clinging to the body and gathered in pleats at the shoulder, the physiognomy, hair line and pendulous earlobes, and the elegant waisted plinth.

The iconography relates to Shakyamuni Buddha's first sermon after his enlightenment given at Mrigadava, the deer park at Sarnath, where he set in motion the Wheel of Dharma: the episode is personified in the dharmachakra hand gestures. This iconographic representation, together with the standing Buddha image where the right hand is held in a gesture of reassurance, abhayamudra, are the two most popular forms of Buddha found in early Kashmir art. The bronze conveys the very essence of the classical period of Kashmir sculpture that was to become such an influence on the art of the western regions of Tibet in the eleventh century. Works such as this made their way to Tibet upon the demise of Buddhism in Kashmir and were highly prized: the eleventh century royal monk Nagaraja had a large collection of Kashmir bronzes as well as locally made western Tibetan works. The Buddha's lustrous metal and silver inlaid almond-shaped eyes are features that became standard in West Tibetan bronzes inspired by Kashmir art.

The inscribed bronze that revolutionised the dating of Kashmir sculpture is a standing Buddha with similar robe style, physiognomic details and pedestal to the present example, and datable both by palaeography and reference in the inscription to the founder of the Karkota dynasty Durlabhavardhana (r. ca 600-636) see Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Hong Kong, 2001, vol. 1, pp. 126-29, pls. 28A-D.