A LAPIS LAZULI CARVING OF A BUDDHA


Sri Lanka, 5th centurycarved lapis lazuli6 cm. (2 3/8 in.) high
|印度 八至十世紀 青金石佛像Provenance:Private Collection, United KingdomLiterature:Further comparable stylistic examples can be seen in: von Schroeder, Ulrich. Golden Age of Sculpture in Sri Lanka, HK: Visual Dharma, 1992, n.7, p. 38.; Guy, John. Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014. fig. 9.; Lerner, Martin and Kossak, Steven. The Lotus Transcendent: Indian and Southeast Asian Art from the Samuel Eilenberg Collection, NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991, n. 106, 107, p.136.; Pal, Pratapaditya. Asian art at the Norton Simon Museum. Vol. 3, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004, fig. 33, p.48. This diminutive, finely sculpted Buddha appears in samadhi, a deep meditative state characterised by dhyanamudra, the gesture of meditation, with his large, strong hands gently cupped upon his lap. He is seated on a cushion in padmasana, the lotus position, presenting as a powerful figure with expansive shoulders and a full, broad face, cast in an expression of deep serenity. Unadorned, the Buddha is depicted without an ushnisha. The curls of his hair have been rendered in a criss-cross pattern, and his pendulous earlobes are indicative of royal heritage. The lack of an ushnisha makes a case for early dating and is in keeping with the Amaravati tradition of illustrating symbols of Buddhahood naturally. Buddha imagery from Anuradhapura typically layer both the hands, as exemplified in this piece (Guy op. cit. p. 9, 72, 91, 9). A stylistic parallel can be drawn with a monumental 5th century Samadhi stone Buddha, situated at Mahamevnāwa Park in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.Lapis lazuli is honoured in the Buddhist religious tradition as one of the Seven Gems or Treasures, the saptaratna referenced in the Mahayana sutras. Its status is analogous to gold, silver, crystal, pearl, emerald and coral. An early lapis lazuli aniconic Buddha is a 4th century carved intaglio seal with the footprints of the Buddha in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acc. no. 2000.284.24.Some scholars theorise that Sri Lanka may have been the point of origin for the cult of the Buddha image, or at least that the religious artform developed independently there. According to von Schroeder, the Mahavamsa text references such Buddha figures, made of stone and precious metal, as early as the 3rd and 2nd century BCE (von Schroeder op. cit. p. 22). Such spanning and significant history make this piece, a meditating Buddha of Sri Lankan origin, carved from a treasure in the healing colour of blue.