Lot 29 Dα

The image of the crowned and bejeweled Buddha has been variously interpreted. The historical Shakyamuni is usually shown as a simple mendicant clad in a monk's robe. The elaborate ornamentation of the Pagan Buddhas suggest that they are representations of Maitreya, the future Buddha waiting as a crowned and jeweled Bodhisattva for his rebirth. There is also some indication that these sculptures may be idealized portraits of deceased kings and nobles of Pagan. Some of the greatest rulers of their era left inscriptions stating that they considered themselves enlightened Buddhist sovereigns who had acquired exceptional merit during past lives and would eventually be reborn as Buddhas. Both interpretations may apply: The image could represent a historical king reborn as Maitreya.
This sculpture represents the Buddha as he was depicted in eleventh- through thirteenth-century Pagan. A number of very similar standing crowned Buddha images, carved from single tree trunks, have been found in temples in the city of Bagan (Pagan) in Myanmar (Burma). Bagan was once the capital of a large and powerful kingdom. The Burmese temple city of Bagan underwent a spectacular flowering during the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. To embellish the city's numerous brick temples, Buddhist images were created in paint, metal, stone, and wood. Only a small group of figures from Pagan relating to this crowned Buddha survives. Several are housed in American Museum such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. no. 1992.382), The Los Angeles County Museum, and the Asian Art Museum San Francisco (acc. no. B86S7).