A rare Imperial gilt-bronze figure of Manjushri17th/18th century
Exquisitely cast seated on a double-lotus pedestal with legs crossed in dhyanasana, her right hand extended in varada mudra and her left in vitarka mudra, both hands holding the stems of lotus blossoming at the shoulders supporting a book of wisdom on her left, clad in an elegant dhoti incised at the hems, fallilng in neat folds in the front, adorned with elaborate necklaces and earrings, the hair neatly tied in a high chignon above the serene face framed by an five-peaked headdress. 24cm (9 1/2in) high.注脚十七/十八世紀 銅鎏金文殊師利菩薩像

Himalayan Art Resources item no.16772
喜馬拉雅藝術資源網16772號

Provenance:
Henry Harrison Getty (1838-1919), by repute
Alice Getty (d.1946), by repute
Courtenay Morgan, Viscount Tredegar (1867-1934), by repute
Evan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar (1893-1949), by repute
Professor and Mrs Bellerby, by repute
Mark Dineley (1901-1975)
Peter Dineley (1938-2018), and thence by descent

Noted in the handwritten family 'A Catalogue of the Dineley Collection of Tibetiana and Associated Buddhistic Objects', early 1960s, p.128.

來源：
傳亨利·哈里遜·蓋蒂舊藏（1838-1919年）
傳愛麗絲·蓋蒂舊藏（卒於1946年）
傳卓德嘉子爵考特尼·摩根舊藏（1867-1934年）
傳特里迪格子爵二世艾文·摩根舊藏（1893-1949年）
傳貝勒比教授及夫人舊藏
馬克·戴尼利舊藏（1901-1975年）
彼得·戴尼利舊藏（1938-2018年），並由家族繼承

記載於戴尼利家族手稿《戴尼利家族的西藏州和相關的佛教物品收藏目錄》'A Catalogue of the Dineley Collection of Tibetiana and Associated Buddhistic Objects'，1960年代初，頁128。

Superbly cast with a serene expression and a gentle sway of the torso, which compliments the curves of the adornments conveying a sense of movement, the present figure is particularly remarkable, reflecting the religious beliefs of the early Qing emperors as well as the political importance of Tibetan Buddhism during this period.

The Manchu rulers often portrayed themselves as bodhisattva-rulers, reincarnations of Manjushri (the bodhisattva of Wisdom). In doing so, they united the Tibetan view of the emperor as a living incarnation of a god with the Chinese Manjushri cult, associated with the sacred Wutaishan in Shanxi Province, where the Kangxi emperor made five pilgrimages. Significantly, the first Mongol-language guidebook to Wutaishan, published in 1667, referred to the Kangxi emperor as the 'reincarnation of Manjushri, sublime lord, who makes the world prosper'. See E.Rawski, The Last Emperors: A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions, Berkley, 1998, p.261.

Not only did the emperors patronise Buddhism for political reasons, but they also appear to have had a genuine personal commitment to the religion. The Kangxi emperor, for example, was largely brought up by his Buddhist grandmother, a Mongol princess, the empress dowager Xiaozhuangwen (1613-1688), and together with his son and grandson, the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors, contributed in building thirty-two Buddhist temples in the Beijing area alone. In addition, during the Kangxi reign, a Sutra Recitation Office was set up and housed in the Hall of Central Uprightness, within the precinct of the Forbidden City. This office was the first to be solely devoted to Tibetan Buddhist affairs. It was part of the Inner Court's Department of Ceremonies, supervised by imperial princes and became the centre of Tibetan Buddhist activities at court, not only devoted to the recitation of sutras but also the casting and storage of Buddhist images.

The painstaking attention to detail, noted in the rich gilding and elaborate jewellery, meticulously inlaid with semi-precious stones, elevate the figure to a higher art form and create a magnificent portrayal of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. The deity has numerous manifestations including the thirty-four armed, sixteen-legged, bull-headed Vajrabhairava. In the present form, the deity represents a departure from the more traditional examples where the figure holds the sword aloft. Here the bodhisattva appears in his purest form as a sixteen-year old youth symbolising the clear, unadulterated and intuitive nature of true Buddhist Wisdom.

The intertwining foliate scrolls decorating the pointed headdress, the inlaid jewellery and the lotus throne base decorated with flowing scarves falling over its edge, all appear to be features characterising the Buddhist bronzes of the Kangxi reign made in the Tibetan style. Compare with a related but larger gilt-bronze figure of Amitayus, 17th century, illustrated by U.von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p.540, pls.152A and 152B. Compare also with a related but larger gilt-lacquered bronze figure of Amitayus, Kangxi, which was sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 2 June 2016, lot 9.

菩薩頭戴五頁冠，髮結高髻，頂插寶珠，耳戴輪飾，開臉圓潤，秀眉細眼低垂，眉心嵌珍珠白亳，胸戴瓔珞，右手結予願印，左手結持花印，左右手皆持蓮莖盤臂而上，至肩頭開蓮花，左肩蓮花之上頂寶笈，豐胸細腰，身姿曼妙，下身著短裙，鏨刻錦地緄邊，飄帶垂於蓮台，全跏趺坐於仰覆蓮台之上，蓮座上下其連珠紋飾一周，通體鎏金，瓔珞嵌寶石。

清代統治者將自己奉為菩薩的化身，皇帝為文殊師利的轉世，這種說法移植自西藏政教合一的思想，和中國民間對菩薩的崇拜相結合，以利統治。康熙帝為此五次朝聖五台山。羅卜桑丹津在康熙六年（1667年，成書年代學界尚有爭議）所著蒙文《五台山旅行指南》中附言寫道：「以此祝願神聖皇帝、世界主宰、文殊轉世者萬壽無疆」。相關討論參見阿爾丁夫撰，《羅卜桑丹津《五台山旅行指南》成書、刊行年代考》，載於《蒙古和其他北方民族文史論叢》，呼和浩特，2005年，頁130至134。

皇帝雖然因政治目的而推崇藏傳佛教，然而皇帝自己也是虔誠信徒。康熙祖母孝莊太皇太后以來，至雍正、乾隆，皇室都篤信支持佛教的傳播，在京城建立了三十二座佛寺。康熙三十六年(1697年)，清廷在中正殿設立專管宮中藏傳佛教事務的機構「中正殿念經處」，主理刊印藏傳佛教經典及造像，隸屬內務府，六十一年特派親王、貝子管理，可見佛教在宮中所受重視。

本件造像裝飾華美，形態優美，乃文殊師利菩薩造像極精之作，參考一件相關的十七世紀銅鎏金無量壽佛，風格相近，體量稍大，見馮·施羅德著，《Indo-Tibetan Bronzes》，香港，1981年，頁540，圖版152A及152B；另可比較一件稍大的康熙漆金無量壽佛像，2016年6月2日售於香港邦瀚斯，拍品編號9。