清乾隆 粉彩描金「無量壽佛」坐像

seated in dhyanasana on a triangular waisted lotus pedestal with hands held in dhyanamudra supporting a vase with a cintamani emblem, the face and body applied with gilt enamel, the deity with serene facial expression and downcast eyes, the hair enamelled blue and partially falling over the shoulders, the rest swept into a high topknot and secured by an ornamental jewel worn behind the five-leaf crown, further adorned with jewelled necklaces, armbands, bracelets, anklets and foot accessories, the shoulders draped with a billowing olive-green shawl wrapped around the lower arms, the dhoti with an outer layer decorated with gilt floral scrolls on an iron-red ground covering the back, revealing in front a pale blue and pink inner layer picked out with blue-enamelled floral roundels, the pedestal decorated in shades of pink with two tiers of overlapping lotus petals below yellow stamen against a turquoise ground, with the tips of the scarf falling over the front, the hollow countersunk base pierced with a hole in the centre

This finely detailed figure of Amitayus is depicted in dhyanamudra while holding an amritakalasha, the vase of longevity that is filled with ambrosia which confers immortality. The flame stemming from the lotus at the rim of the vase refers to his emanation of the fire element, symbolised by the Buddha Amitabha. Amitayus is invoked to cure illness and upon death for the hope of being transported to the world of Amitabha who resides in the Western Paradise death.

The adoration of brightly coloured deities has a long tradition in Tibetan Buddhism and the wide colour range available in the famille-rose palette made porcelain an ideal medium to create such Buddhist figures. However, the making of such figures required the highest level of workmanship due to the complicated modelling and repeated firing necessary to achieve the perfect result. Hence the number of figures produced remained small and were mainly for the temples of the imperial palace precincts.

The present figure has been gilded to simulate gilt-bronze figures that were popular at the time; for example see a figure of a related model reputed to have come from the imperial palace, included in the Exhibition of Chinese Arts, Messrs. C.T. Loo & Co., New York, 1941, cat. no. 750. A closely related example to the present figure was sold in our Paris rooms, 16^th December 2010, lot 196; and another was sold at Christie’s London, 6^th November 2009, lot 105. Further gilded porcelain figures include one sold in our London rooms, 13^th November 2002, lot 156A; and another in these rooms, 15^th May 1990, lot 245. Compare a figure of this type but with the body painted with flesh-like pink enamel, such as two examples sold in these rooms 29^th October 2001, lot 606, and 8^th April 2013, lot 3055. For a smaller and less elaborately decorated version of this famille-rose figure, see a pair illustrated in Qingdai ciqi shangjian [Appreciation of Qing dynasty ceramics], Hong Kong, 1994, pl. 232.