A gilt-copper alloy figure of Maitreya, Yuan dynasty | 元 銅合金鎏金彌勒菩薩像 

Eskenazi Ltd., London.

埃斯卡納齊，倫敦

Hajni Elias and Giuseppe Eskenazi, A Dealer's Hand: The Chinese Art World through the Eyes of Giuseppe Eskenazi, London, 2012, pl. 98.

薛好佩及埃斯卡納齊，《中國藝術品經眼錄：埃斯卡納齊的回憶》，倫敦，2012年，圖版98

This finely cast and rare gilded image of Maitreya depicts the Buddha of the Future seated on a throne with legs pendent in bhadrasana, depicted preaching and fulfilling his teaching duties in the Tushita heaven. Under the Mongol Yuan dynasty, there was a reinvigoration of Buddhism, and Tibetan Buddhism became increasingly influential. The material appeal of Tantric Buddhism is encapsulated in this image of Maitreya.

For a larger Yuan dynasty gilt-copper alloy figure of Maitreya in the same seated posture, see one exhibited in Buddha: Radiant Awakening, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2003, cat. no. 121. It differs from the current sculpture in that Maitreya is adorned with a crown and elaborate jewelry.  

A Tibetan provenance for this sculpture during the Yuan dynasty is more likely than a Chinese one. Maitreya is more commonly found in Tibet depicted in this manner, seated on a throne with legs pendant in bhadrasana. The majority of Tibetan images of Maitreya in this form are adorned with crown and jewelry and hands in dharmachakramudra, indicating bodhisattva status. For an earlier copper alloy figure of Maitreya preserved in Tibet, see the example in Khra'brug monastery, Yarlung Valley, with engraved patterns on the robe, illustrated by Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet: Tibet and China, vol. II, Hong Kong, 2001, pl. 300A, where he assigns the figure to the 12th/13th century of the Tibetan Monastic Period. See also a Tang dynasty figure of Maitreya with closely related iconography in the Potala Palace, Lhasa, illustrated ibid., pl. 341A.