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10th Century Bronze Javanese Dhyani Buddha Vairocana browse these categories for related items... All Items: Antiques:Regional Art:Asian:Southeast Asian:Sculpture: Pre AD 1000: item # 923070 Please refer to our stock # 1118 when inquiring.
Boran Asian Art Grays, 1-7 Davies Mews, Mayfair, London, W1 0044 (0)795 422 8735 Guest Book Price On Request |
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Details: A very fine miniature example of an early Javanese image of Vairocana the foremost of the five transcendent Dhyani Buddhas and the most revered of the cosmic Buddhas in early Javanese Buddhist society. Vairocana is seated in Vajrasana on the upper part of a lotus base with both hands in the wisdom fist Bodhyagrimudra. He is wearing a Dhoti and the adornments of a prince, a five leafed crown, armlets, bracelets, earrings and his sacred thread or Upitava. His finely detailed face carries a slightly downcast expression, a pointed Indic nose and elegant elongated earlobes, topped by a high Jatamukta and a classically Javanese ring shaped halo affixed to the back of his broad shoulders. The quality, fine detailing and great proportions of this small piece exemplifies the reputation of the early Javanese craftsmen as the great miniaturists of Southeast Asian Art. The style of the dress, the ornaments and the hexagons on the base of this image are strongly reminiscent of the classical Central Javanese period of the 9th century (the hexagons on the base are identical to the wonderful 9th century Eilenberg Maitreya in the New York Metropolitan). However, the elaborate execution of these details and the large size of the halo may possibly suggest the slightly later 10th century date, putting the piece into the category of early Eastern Javanese images. In Mahayana and tantric Vajrayana Buddhism, Vairocana is the supreme Buddha who is the cosmic counterpart of Sakyamuni in his teaching mode. He is the most prominent of the five Dhyani Buddhas, those who were born as humans to propagate the dharma and who rule over the cosmic directions and five aggregates that constitute the world and each individual. In the monumental cosmological diagram of the 9th century Borobudur, images of Vairocana occupy the uppermost terraces, high above the representations of the other Dhyani Buddhas. He may be represented either in the form of a Buddha wearing monastic garb and traditional spiral hair curls, or in divine royal attire as with the present piece. His mudra is either Dharmachakramudra or the mystical Bodhyagrimudra the wisdom fist, displayed in this sculpture. Age: 10th Century. Height: 6.4 cm. Provenance: This piece was once part of the Alex Biancardi collection. |
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