Lot 2792. A gilt-bronze figure of Samantabhadra, Qing dynasty, 18th century; 35.5 cm., 14 in. Estimate 2,000,000 — 3,000,000 HKD. Lot Sold 4,100,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's 2010.

the Adi-Buddha with stems of foliage in each hand, the flowers supporting a vajra and sutra, wearing a lower garment engraved with textile patterns and secured at the waist by a sash and jewelled girdle, and adorned with bodhisattva jewellery including beaded necklaces, earrings, armbands, bracelets, anklets, and a crown framing the forehead and tied at the sides with billowing sashes, hair drawn up in a jatamakuta tied with jewelled bands and topped by a cintamani, with curling tresses falling to the upper arms, a diaphanous scarf draping the bare shoulders and fluttering at his sides down to the pedestal below, his face with a beneficent expression, and seated in lalitasana on a lotus flower supported by a caparisoned elephant striding on a lotus pedestal. 

Property from the Collection of Tuyêt Nguyêt and Stephen Markbreiter.

Note: Samantabhadra, "Universal Joy", is one of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas and is companion to Manjushri, the Lord of Wisdom. As an Adi-Buddha he is considered the manifestation of dharmakaya, source of all things and the essence to which all things return. Legend has it that he arrived in China on an elephant and rested on Mount O-mei, which is believed to be his sanctuary: hence the iconography of this fine and rare gilt bronze depicting the deity supported by his elephant vehicle. Compare the style of the robe, the scarf falling to the pedestal, the jewellery, hand gestures and the facial expression of a Qing dynasty Shyamatara in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Marylin M. Rhie and Robert A. F. Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, London, 1991, cat. 25. 

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, 08 Oct 10 11:00 AM, Hong Kong