Laos, 18th - 19th Century, Important Maravijaya Buddha In Bronze With Dark Green Patina

Buddha Maravijaya in bumisparsha mudra position

Laos18th-19th century

The Buddha is represented seated on a high pedestal with stepped tiers in the sattvaparyanka position, the right leg resting on the left leg, right hand placed on the knee in the bumisparsha mudra position (taking the Earth as witness) the fingers pointing towards the ground and the left hand placed in his lap, palm facing the sky. The body has broad shoulders and a chest swollen with the breath of meditation.
The awakened one is dressed in the sangathiet of the uttarasangha pressed against the body leaving the right shoulder uncovered, a piece of the cloth placed on the left shoulder extending towards the navel. The face with great interiority is characterized by wide-open eyes inlaid with silver and surmounted by perfectly rounded eyebrows. A long, aquiline nose shaped like an eagle's beak overhangs a mouth with thin lips outlining a broad smile, the neck presenting the folds of beauty. The skull is covered with a multitude of small spikes delimited by a wide border and surmounted at its summit by the ushnisha (cranial protuberance) from which springs a hautrasmi in the form of a stylized lotus bud.
The pointed ears with long lobes distended by the weight of the ornaments that the Buddha once wore in his worldly life are curved outwards, the auricle in the shape of a snail shell, a classic attribute of Lao statuary.

The representation of our Buddha is part of the classic images of the canons of Buddhist statuary and refers to a particular episode in the life of the Enlightened One. The latter being close to achieving Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, Mara, the god of constantly unfulfilled desires seeks to distract the Blessed One and claims to claim the throne of Enlightenment for himself. Faced with Mara's repeated assaults, the Buddha remains impassive and by this symbolic gesture, calls the Earth to witness his will to achieve complete Enlightenment.

Bronze with dark green patina and silver inlays
43.7 x 19.7 cm
Minor casting defects without impact
French private collection

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