China, 1736-1795. Well modeled seated in dhyanasana atop a double-lotus pedestal with a beaded rim, his right hand lowered in bhumisparsa mudra, the left held above his lap. His long robes open at the chest, tied at the midriff, with a shawl draped over both shoulders. His serene face with downcast gaze, sinuous eyelids, and bow-shaped lips forming a calm smile, flanked by long pendulous earlobes. His hair arranged in tight curls over the domed ushnisha topped by a jewel. The sealplate incised with a double vajra. The front edge of the base incised with a central seven-character mark da Qing Qianlong nian jingzao and of the period.

Inscriptions: The lotus plinth is incised to the top with a four-syllable Tibetan inscription rendered in Uchen script reading, ‘Drahi Nakhil.’ The front side along the base’s rim with a Chinese inscription, ‘Respectfully made during the Qianlong reign’, flanked by another Chinese inscription on the left reading ‘Buddha Duan E,’ and another Tibetan inscription on the right reading ‘Chawa Pangpo.’ The two narrow sides are further inscribed with two sets of Manchu script.

Provenance: Swiss trade. Acquired from a private estate, where it had been in the family for a long time.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, manufacturing irregularities, small nicks, minor dents, little rubbing to gilt, remnants of pigment. The base sealed.

Weight: 2,480 g
Dimensions: Height 31.2 cm

The epithet Buddha Duan E (literally ‘Breaker of Evil Buddha’) likely refers to the Buddha’s teaching on the ultimate destruction of evil at the end of the world in the Sattasuriya sutta (Sermon of the Seven Suns), in the Anguttara Niksya [AN 7.66] of the Pali Canon, according to which, ‘All things are impermanent, all aspects of existence are unstable and non-eternal. Beings will become so weary and disgusted with the constituent things that they will seek emancipation from them more quickly. There will come a season, O monks, when after hundreds of thousands of years, rains will cease. All seedlings, all vegetation, all plants, grasses and trees will dry up and cease to be...There comes another season after a great lapse of time when a second sun will appear. Now all brooks and ponds will dry up, vanish, cease to be.’ The canon goes on to describe the progressive destruction of each sun. A third sun will dry the mighty Ganges and other great rivers. A fourth will cause the great lakes to evaporate, and a fifth will dry the oceans. Eventually, the final suns will appear: ‘Again after a vast period of time a sixth sun will appear, and it will bake the Earth even as a pot is baked by a potter. All the mountains will reek and send up clouds of smoke. After another great interval a seventh sun will appear and the Earth will blaze with fire until it becomes one mass of flame. The mountains will be consumed, a spark will be carried on the wind and go to the worlds of God....Thus, monks, all things will burn, perish and exist no more except those who have seen the path.’

The polyglot inscriptions on the present lot are perhaps indicative of the role that Vajrayana Buddhism played for the court in consolidating control over the Han, Manchu, Mongol, and Tibetan subjects of the Qing realm. In addition, the specific identification of this figure belies an emphasis on iconographic accuracy that was of paramount importance to the Qianlong Emperor. Patricia Berger discusses both of these issues at length in her Empire of Emptiness: Buddhist Art and Political Authority in Qing China, 2003, passim.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams London, 19 May 2019, lot 184
Price: GBP 31,312 or approx. EUR 49,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare gilt-lacquer bronze repoussé figure of Buddha, Qianlong incised seven-character mark and of the period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, modeling, repoussé work, seven-character Qianlong mark, and inscriptions in Chinese, Tibetan, and Manchu. Note the related size (30.5 cm).

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