superbly cast in the Udayana style, depicted standing with the right and left hands held in abhayamudra and varadamudra respectively, the deity portrayed with a serene and meditative countenance below an urna, framed by a pair of long pendulous earlobes and hair neatly swept over the mound of the ushnisha, further rendered clad in a long robe with elongated sleeve openings and accentuated overall with pronounced folds and undulations, the garment loosely clinging to the gently rounded outlines of his stomach and legs and ending in a flaring hem above the bare feet, Japanese wood stand

Sotheby's New York, 21st September 2007, lot 24.

The overall structure of the sculpture is complete, with the exception of two replaced fingers on the left hand. It stands on a wood stand, probably custom-made by Yamanaka in Japan. There is no evidence that there would have originally been a separately cast bronze stand.The sculpture is hollow cast. It has been later applied with an additional devotional layer of gilt-lacquer consisting of gold leaf. Elements of this more fragile area, extending to the folds of the robes and clearly visible on the reverse, has flaked off. The losses expose original casting flaws and foundry repairs. These are clearly visible in the catalogue photo, as are the areas of rubbing to the gilding on the face. Other than this, and typical minor bruises to the fragile extremities including the collar and the hems of the robe, the sculpture is in good condition. It is a superlative example of unparalleled size.A scientific report prepared by John Twilley is available upon request.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

THE BUDDHA OF THE FUTURE – A BEACON OF BRIGHTNESS IN A TURBULENT ERA

“The empire is in utter chaos. Maitreya Buddha has incarnated, and the Manichaean King of Light has 𓃲appeared in this world.”

As the Yuan dynasty crumbled amidst famine, floods and general unrest, the anti-Mongol slogan of Han Shantong, Grand Patriarch of the White Lotus sect, was a call to arms and ☂rebellion. Central to Han’s belief structure was the idea that Maitreya Buddha had finally manifested in the world as the successor to Shakyamuni Buddha. Shortly after his demise in 1351, Zhu Yuanzhan, originally a member of the White Lotus sect, emerged as the leader of ethnic Han Chinese rebelling against the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. In 1368, he proclaimed himself the Hongwu Emperor of the newly established Ming dynasty, taking the dynasty’s name from Han’s slogan.

This monumental bronze sculpture, which can be pinpointed by radiocarbon dating of organic material in its core to a period from the late Yuan to the Hongwu period, is an outstanding legacy of this turbulent age. Magnificently cast in the Udayana style, evoking the traditions of Buddhist art from Gandhara, it is a work of extraordinary preಞsence. Little is recorded from this chaotic period, and so much of what was created must have been destroyed or melted down, but it seems likely that there was a heightened interest in the cult of Maitreya Buddha at this time, reflecting the prevailing belief structures. This inspired the creation of large-scale figures of Maitreya, of which this is a pre-eminent example. In the Buddhist tradition, Maitreya is said to reside in the perfected world of Tushita Heaven, but in the future age it is believed that he will descend as teacher and saviour of an earthly paradise known as Ketumati. 

The iconography of the sculpture places it in the rich historic tradition of depicting Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future, standing with hands held in abhaya and varada mudra, and robed in a style known in China from the late fourth or early fifth century as Udayana, where the Buddha's outer g🌄arment covers both shoulders and falls in stylised undulations. The style is 🐓derived from the Buddhist sculpture of ancient Gandhara and early Central Asian cultures, where images of Buddha so successfully fused influences from the Hellenistic world with the rich artistic tradition of Indian sculpture.

Udayana is the ancient name of an area thought to be present-day Swat Valley, Pakistan, which was part of the early Gandhara region. Buddhist images displaying robes with pronounced folds, such as the colossal third or fourth century sculptures once standing at Bamiyan, were accessible to pilgrims via the Silk Road and the style thus found its way to China. It is recorded that the Chinese traveller Faxian visited this site sometime around the beginning of the fifth century. Testimony to this migration of style is seen in the famous gilt-bronze figure in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, dated 486 and identified by inscription as Maitreya, where the Buddha's hands are held in abhaya and varada mudra, with the robe falling from the shoulders in stylised undulations, see Denise Patry Leidy, Notes on a Buddha Maitreya sculpture dated 486 in the Metropolitan Museum of  Art, New York, Oriental Art Magazine, vol. LV no. 3, 2005/6, pp. 22-32 .

Another gilt-bronze standing figure of Maitreya of identical structure and iconography, clearly from the same workshop but much smaller in size (50.2 cm high), was sold in our New York rooms, 16th September 2009, lot 12. (fig. 1). Acquired from Yamanaka Sokai, Osaka in the early 20th century, it is stylistically very close, and stands securely on a similar wood stand as the current figure, suggesting that it too may also originally have been with Yamanaka. The tradition of depicting Maitreya Buddha standing in the Udayana style continued to the Yongle period, as demonstrated by the iconography of the Yongle reign-marked Maitreya from the Speelman collection, sold in these rooms, 7th October 2006, lot 803. In contrast to the current sculpture, bronze Buddhist sculptures from the late Ming period generally show the concurrent fashions of loose and flowing outer garments with no stylised undulations. They also lack the distinctive feature of webbed hands, one of the lakshana orꦰ identifying marks of a Buddha, vi💙sible on earlier examples including the current figure.