figure BM-1981-1109.1

Period:Unknown Production date:12thC-13thC
Materials:bronze, copper, silver, stone,
Technique:inlaid, cast,
Subjects:buddha
Dimensions:Height: 32 centimetres

Description:
A seated figure of the Dhyanibuddha Akshobhya, made in bronze with silver and copper inlay and a red stone set in the usnisa.
IMG


Comments:Zwalf 1985One of the earliest distinctive Tibetan bronzes, this monumental figure represents a development of the eastern Indian tradition. It recalls Kurkihār bronzes and painting from Karakhoto, probably a Tibetan adaptation from the lost eastern Indian tradition of cloth painting. Akṣobhya was a preferred principal deity in eastern India during the second evangelisation of Tibet. On the back of the image are the three Tibetan syllables for body, speech and mind, and the Buddhist creed in Sanskrit in a curious form of Indian character. A tenon projects below the shallow double lotus base indicating another plinth.