Period:Unknown Production date:12thC
Materials:bronze, gold, silver, copper,
Technique:cast, gilded, pigmented (blue), inlaid,
Subjects:buddha bodhisattva
Dimensions:Height: 14 centimetres
Description:
A lotus mandala cast in bronze, with a figure of Aksobhya, the celestial Buddha, seated at the heart of the lotus with a vajra before him. The lotus has an elaborate stem with curling tendrils. There are attendant bodhisattva figures seated on lotuses on the inside of each moveable petal. Two deities sit below the main petals on lotuses attached to the stem and two similar figures climb up the stem itself. It has a stepped circular base with a beaded edge. The lotus petals can be closed up to form a bud concealing the Buddha and the attendant figures inside. Inscribed.
IMG
![图片[1]-figure; mandala BM-1982-0804.1-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Unknown/Bronzes/mid_00033933_001.jpg)
![图片[2]-figure; mandala BM-1982-0804.1-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Unknown/Bronzes/mid_PS252417.jpg)
![图片[3]-figure; mandala BM-1982-0804.1-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Unknown/Bronzes/mid_00509558_001.jpg)
Comments:Zwalf 1985A few Indian Buddhist lotus shrines survive; others come from Burma, Tibet and China. They are ‘maṇḍalas’, symbolising the emanation of the phenomenal from the Absolute, a process which, like the opened petals, could be ritually reversed. The presiding deity is Akṣobhya whose symbol, the ‘vajra’, lies before him; he has an unusual head-dress of inlaid copper and silver, and disposed on the petals around him are eight Bodhisattvas, a standard grouping. The lotus is supported by deities, and the inscription on the base is a dedication by the Buddhist layman (‘upāsaka’) Dantanāga. The figure of Akṣobhya looks Burmese of the Pagan period, but other similar work has lately been found in Bihar. The figures have traces of blue pigment and gilding which suggest that this ‘maṇḍala’ once received Tibetan worship.
Materials:bronze, gold, silver, copper,
Technique:cast, gilded, pigmented (blue), inlaid,
Subjects:buddha bodhisattva
Dimensions:Height: 14 centimetres
Description:
A lotus mandala cast in bronze, with a figure of Aksobhya, the celestial Buddha, seated at the heart of the lotus with a vajra before him. The lotus has an elaborate stem with curling tendrils. There are attendant bodhisattva figures seated on lotuses on the inside of each moveable petal. Two deities sit below the main petals on lotuses attached to the stem and two similar figures climb up the stem itself. It has a stepped circular base with a beaded edge. The lotus petals can be closed up to form a bud concealing the Buddha and the attendant figures inside. Inscribed.
IMG
Comments:Zwalf 1985A few Indian Buddhist lotus shrines survive; others come from Burma, Tibet and China. They are ‘maṇḍalas’, symbolising the emanation of the phenomenal from the Absolute, a process which, like the opened petals, could be ritually reversed. The presiding deity is Akṣobhya whose symbol, the ‘vajra’, lies before him; he has an unusual head-dress of inlaid copper and silver, and disposed on the petals around him are eight Bodhisattvas, a standard grouping. The lotus is supported by deities, and the inscription on the base is a dedication by the Buddhist layman (‘upāsaka’) Dantanāga. The figure of Akṣobhya looks Burmese of the Pagan period, but other similar work has lately been found in Bihar. The figures have traces of blue pigment and gilding which suggest that this ‘maṇḍala’ once received Tibetan worship.
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![[Qing Dynasty] British female painter—Elizabeth Keith, using woodblock prints to record China from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China—1915-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/image-191x300.png)
