A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA


SRI LANKA, DIVIDED KINGDOMS PERIOD, 16TH CENTURY4 1/8 in. (10.4 cm) high
|斯里蘭卡 十六世紀 佛陀銅像 This plucky Sri Lankan Buddha belies the turmoil of the Divided Kingdoms Period (13th-16th centuries) in which it was created. The Divided Kingdoms Period comprised three hundred years of internecine conflicts among small Sinhalese kingdoms, amid successive waves of European imperialists. Despite the period's lack of a consistent central political authority and Buddhist patron, Listopad identifies a number of typical stylistic features, such as the rounded face and sheer robe, which continue earlier Sinhalese traditions. Other features that inform a 16th-century date more specifically for this bronze are its prominent right nipple and the pronounced hemline running underneath it (Phoenix Art Museum, Guardian of the Flame, Phoenix, 2003, pp.57-9 & 116-7). Meanwhile, this sculpture's pointed finial is a rare trait for a Sri Lankan bronze, denoting the island's historic relationship with the Buddhist kingdoms of Myanmar. While Theravada Buddhists of Southeast Asia consider Sri Lanka the preserving source of Buddhist wisdom, on several occasions Sinhalese rulers called on Burmese monastic emissaries to revitalize endangered Buddhist institutions at home. One consequence of this relationship is that Sri Lankan artists occasionally incorporated features from Burmese Buddha images (cf., von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculpture in Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, 1990, pp.448). A gold repoussé plaque from Burma in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (2005.89) provides an example of the Burmese pointed finial that inspired the present bronze's caster or patron.Published Phoenix Art Museum, Guardian of the Flame: Art of Sri Lanka, Phoenix, 2003, p.126. Exhibited Guardian of the Flame: Art of Sri Lanka, Phoenix Art Museum, 8 February - 11 May 2003; The Cantor Art Center, Stanford University, 2 March - 12 June 2005; University of Virginia Art Museum, 21 January - 19 March 2006. Provenance Private Collection, US, by 1957 Thence by descent