Lot 205. A rare gilt-bronze seated figure of Buddha, Sui dynasty (581-618); 64 in. (162.5 cm.) high. Estimate USD 150,000 - USD 200,000. Price realised USD 180,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2007. 

Finely cast as Maitreya Buddha shown in a seated position with both legs pendent and the feet supported by lotus, the right hand raised in abhayamudra and the left hand resting on the left knee, wearing layered robes falling in graceful crisp folds around the body, the face well cast with intense expression below the parallel lines of tiny flattened curls which rise to a round usnisa, with the remains of a tab projecting from the back of the head, with traces of an inscription lightly incised on the lower body in back, the first two characters possibly Wang Zhou, the others indecipherable, wood stand, two boxes. 

Note: Maitreya Buddha governs two perfected worlds: Tushita Heaven, which he currently inhabits, and Ketumati, an ideal realm conducive to the pursuit of enlightenment where he will serve as the teaching Buddha.

Gilt-bronze figures of Maitreya Buddha dated to the Sui dynasty are extremely rare, and the present figure is further distinguished by the superb casting and particularly sensitive treatment of the drapery and the proportions of the body. A very similar gilt-bronze figure dated to the late Sui dynasty, but of larger size (32.4 cm. high), from the Nitta Group Collection was included in the exhibition, The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, The National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1987, p. 169, pl. 72, and was later sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 26-27 April 1998, lot 601. Another similar example of approximately the same size (19.4 cm. high), but exhibiting slightly more simplified treatment of the drapery, is in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery and illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen, Buddhist Sculpture, Taipei, 1986, p. 86, no. 63. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 22 March 2007