Laos, 18th Century, Important Maravijaya Buddha In Bronze With Green Patina And Silver Inlays

Maravijaya Buddha in bumisparsha mudra position

Laos
18th century

The Buddha is represented seated on a high tiered base in sattvaparyanka position. The right leg resting on the left leg, right hand placed on the knee in bumisparsha mudra position (taking the Earth as witness) fingers pointed towards the ground and the left hand placed in its lap, palm turned towards the sky. The body has broad shoulders and a chest swollen with the breath of meditation. The awakened person is dressed in sangathi and uttarasangha placed directly on the body, leaving the right shoulder uncovered, a section of the fabric placed on the left shoulder extending towards the navel. The face with great interiority is characterized by wide open eyes inlaid with silver and topped by perfectly rounded eyebrow arches. A long aquiline nose in the shape of an eagle's beak overhanging a mouth with thin lips sketching a broad smile, the neck presenting the folds of beauty.
The skull is covered with a multitude of small spikes delimited by a broad border and surmounted at the top by the ushnisha (cranial protuberance) from which emerges a high rasmi in the shape of a stylized lotus bud. The pointed ears with long lobes distended by the weight of the ornaments that the Buddha once wore in his worldly life are curved outwards, the pinna of the ear in the shape of a snail shell, a classic attribute of Lao statuary.

The representation of our Buddha is part of the classic images of the canons of Buddhist statuary and refers to a particular episode in the life of the Awakened One. The latter being close to reaching Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, Mâra, the god of constantly unfulfilled desires, seeks to distract the Blessed One and claims to claim for himself the throne of Awakening. Faced with Mâra's repeated assaults, the Buddha remains impassive and through this symbolic gesture, calls the Earth to witness his desire to achieve complete Enlightenment.

Bronze with dark green patina, silver inlays
43.7 x 19.7 cm
Small casting defects without impact
Private collection

°°°° The digital processing of the image struggles to transcribe the intensity of the almost hypnotic gaze generated by the silver inlays . The expression of the face finds all its depth in this addition of material and can be compared to the images of the tirthankaras of Jain culture°°°°