A BRONZE VOTIVE FIGURE OF BUDDHA NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY

cast on a raised stepped four-legged pedestal, the figure seated in dhyanasana with right hand in abhaya mudra and left hand grasping the edge of his robe in a posture of teaching, the meditative face framed by large ears and a domed ushnisha, the figure with two lugs in the back to secure the detachable mandorla, petal-shaped and richly decorated with a central flower surrounded by seven smaller Buddha images within flames, all within a flaming border, the reverse depicting the two Buddhas, Shakyamuni in dialogue with Prabhutaratna, all above a pair of lions and devotees rendered with hands clasped and turned towards the two enlightened beings, a dedicatory inscription spreading over three sides of the pedestal with the names of devotees 

Chugoku bijutsu ten series: Riku-cho no bijutsu [Chinese art exhibition series; the art of Six Dynasties], Osaka Art Museum, Osaka, 1975, vol. 2, no. 3-169.

Saburo Matsubara, Chugoku Bukkyo Chokoku Shiron [Essay on the history of Chinese Buddhist sculpture], Tokyo, 1995, vol. 1, pl. 78c.

This seated figure of Buddha is one of a group of small portable votive sculptures, which proliferated around the 5th century AD, especially during the Taihe reign (477-499) of the Northern Wei dynasty. The figure depicts Shakyamuni Buddha preaching the Law, with a hand raised in abhayamudra, symbolising his protection and blessing, while his left hand grasps the edge of his robe. Together with the flaming mandorla, which depicts two figures in monastic robes under a stupa, this sculpture may depict the story described in chapter eleven of the Lotus Sutra, according to which a jewelled stupa with Prabhutaratna, the Buddha of the Past Age, rose from the earth and hovered in the air as Shakyamuni Buddha was delivering his sermon. Shakyamuni rose into the air to join him, while all those present rejoiced and showered the two Buddhas with flowers.