A wood seated figure of Miroku Bosatsu (Maitreya)


Probably Edo period (1615-1868), 18th/19th centuryCarved from a block of antique timber (see below), the bodhisattva of the future shown in the hanka (half-seated) meditation posture, the right elbow resting on the right knee, the fingers of the right hand touching the right cheek, the left hand resting on the left foot, the neck and arm ornaments gilt metal; with a separate carved dais. Overall height: 32.5cm (12¾in).
|ProvenanceA Belgian private collection, purchased by the industrialist and philantropist, Baron Jean de Brouwer (1872-1951), the great-grandfather of the current owner.Clearly inspired by celebrated larger early-seventh-century sculptures of likely Korean origin such as the akamatsu (red pine) seated Miroku in the Koryuji Temple (Kyoto) or, for the Northern Wei/Asuka-style treatment of the robes around the base, the bronze Tori triad in the Horyuji Temple (near Nara), this small-scale figure was carved from a block of wood dated by radiocarbon test to the sixteenth or early seventeenth century (RDC Lockinge, RCD-9199).