A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AMITABHA TRIAD, SUI DYNASTY | 隋 鎏金銅一佛二弟子像

Susan Chen, Hong Kong.

陳淑貞，香港

This finely cast gilt votive stele depicts Amitabha, the Buddha of Endless Light, flanked by Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta. This was a popular subject matter in the Sui dynasty. A closely related example of similar iconography, dated 592, is illustrated in Saburo Matsubara, Chugoku Bukkyo Chokoku Shi Kenkyu [Chinese Buddhist Sculpture - A study based on bronze and stone statues other than works from cave temples], Tokyo, 1966, pl. 208a. See also a larger stele in the Freer Gallery of Art , Washington D.C, dated 597, illustrated in Hugo Munsterberg, Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, Tokyo, 1967, pl. 112. 

鎏金無量光佛立像，倆弟子觀世音菩薩和大勢至菩薩隨侍在側。此主題組合常見於隋代佛像，見一相似例，紀年隋代開皇十二年（592年），錄於松原三郎，《中國佛教雕刻史研究－特別是石窟造像之外，關於金銅佛、石佛的論考》，東京，1966年，圖版208a。另有一例，尺寸較大，紀年隋代開皇十七年（597年），現藏華盛頓 Freer Gallery of Art，載於 Hugo Munsterberg，《Chinese Buddhist Bronzes》，東京，1967年，圖版112。