An Imperial gilt-bronze figure of Amitayus17th/18th century
The serene Bodhisattva seated cross-legged in dhyanasana on a double-lotus pedestal with the hands held in dhyana mudra, lavishly attired with a long dhoti falling in elegant pleats and a celestial scarf trailing down to the sides, elaborately adorned with regal necklaces, armlets and bracelets inset with semi-precious stones, the face with downcast eyes crowned by an intricate openwork tiara. 27.5cm (10 3/4in) high.注脚十七/十八世紀 銅鎏金嵌綠松石無量壽佛

Himalayan Art Resources item no.16785
喜馬拉雅藝術資源網16785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

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

Amitayus, also known as Amitabha or the 'Buddha of Eternal Life', is a celestial Buddha according to the scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism and is associated with longevity in Vajrayana Buddhism.

This present figure is a highly refined casting of the style developed by the Imperial Workshops during the early Qing dynasty. Compare with two related gilt-bronze figures of Amitayus, Kangxi, with very similar faces, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Buddhist Status of Tibet, Shanghai, 2003, pp.238-239, nos.227-228; and another Qianlong period example with similarly incised details around the attires, illustrated in ibid., p.249, no.283.

無量壽佛頭梳葫蘆髻，額戴寶冠，長髮披肩，開臉祥和，信目微闔，耳戴花型耳墜，肩披短坎肩，身纏瓔珞，袒胸，臂挽哈達，下身著短裳，皆鏨刻錦地緄邊，雙手結禪定印，全跏趺坐於仰覆蓮臺，臺緣起連珠一周，臺基鏨刻錦地紋一匝，穿戴首飾皆嵌雜寶，通體鎏金。

清宮從康熙年間開始大量製作藏傳佛像，其風格承自永宣，細節上多有時風；乾隆時達到高潮，乾隆帝興建眾多佛寺佛堂，需要大量佛像供養，並且他對佛像設計常常事必躬親。清宮藏有數件銅鎏金無量壽可資參考，禪定印上結捧寶瓶，兩件為康熙時期無量壽佛坐像，開臉和本件頗似，一件為乾隆時期無量壽佛坐像，衣衫處理和本件類似，見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品大系：藏傳佛教造像》，上海，2003年，頁238、239及249，編號227、228及283。