G756.5 SEATED BRONZE JAMBHUPATI BUDDHA
BURMA, ARAKAN PERIOD
17TH – 18TH CENTURY
H. 19.5 CMS, 7 ¾ INS
A crowned and jewelled bronze figure of Buddha, wearing princely robes and seated on a waisted pedestal with his right hand lowered in bhumisparsimudra (the gesture of summoning the earth to witness), the face meditative and serene beneath deeply arched brows and a tall crown enclosing a tiered lotus finial.
Sylvia Fraser-Lu describes the origin of depictions of Buddha as Jambhupati:
‘The idea of representing Lord Buddha in something more splendid than his characteristic monk’s garb is thought to have come from a story where the Master dressed in royal attire to humble a proud overbearing king, Jambhupati, who was threatening one of his followers. The arrogant king was suitably overawed and subsequently converted. Buddha figures in kingly robes have come to be called jambhupati images. This type of Buddha figure is popular throughout Southeast Asia, and had its origins in Indian art belonging to the Pala period (circa A.D. 750-1150)’.
[Sylvia Fraser-Lu, Buddha Images from Burma, Part II: Bronze and Related Metals, Arts of Asia, March 1981]
For some similar examples from Arakan see Sylvia Fraser-Lu, (ibid.).
For a related figure see plate 41 in San Tha Aung, The Buddhist Art of Ancient Arakan, Rangoon: Department of Higher Education, 1979.
Provenance: From a collection in the West of England.
Previously in a private Belgian collection.