LARGE JAPANESE BRONZE SCULPTURE GROUP OF FUGEN BOSATSU
MEIJI PERIOD
£3,780
Auction: 16 May 2025 from 09:00 BST
Description
明治 銅鑄普賢菩薩騎象座像
the bodhisattva seated in royal ease pose with his left leg folded, his right hand raised before the chest holding a nyoi sceptre and right raised just above his thigh with palm faving upward, wears a loose dhoti with bellowing scarf wraps around the hands flowing the legs, the high chignon surrounded by a crown above a serene facial expression, on the back of a caparisoned and bejewelled elephant standing on all fours
Dimensions
50cm high; 14.6kg
Provenance
Private collection, London; formerly in the George Farrow collection
Footnote
Fugen Bosatsu, also known as Fugen Bodhisattva (skt: Samantabhadra), is the Bodhisattva of Universal Goodness, Virtue, and Worthiness. Symbolising meditation and praxis (diligent practice of Buddhist tenets), Fugen is often accompanied by Monju Bosatsu (skt: Mañjuśrī), who conversely symbolises wisdom and the enlightened mind, flanking the Gautama Buddha, forming the Shakyamuni Triad, or the Avatamsaka Trinity (Shaka Sanzon).
The magnificent example presented here is cast in generous proportions in three parts: the figure, the nyoi sceptre, and the elephant. The Bosatsu is distinguishable by his designated Elephant King vahana, which he sits on in latitasana.
A comparable example of Fugen Bosatsu atop elephant can be seen in the Sanjūsangen-dō, a Buddhist temple of the Tendai sect in Kyoto, Japan (Publication: Buddhist Deities of Sanjusangen-do: Rengeo-in Sanjusangen-do Temple, 2000). This 13th-century example was carved in the Heian-Kamakura Period, deemed to be the prototype of Fugen Bosatsu in Japanese Buddhism. Compare to a large bronze sculpture group of Fugen Bosatsu, late Edo to Meiji Period, sold in this saleroom, 14 May 2021, lot 306.
普賢菩薩（梵語：Samantabhadra），是象徵「普遍賢善」、「德性」與「功德」的菩薩。祂象徵禪定與實踐——即對佛教教義之勤修不輟的實踐。普賢菩薩常與文殊菩薩（梵語：Mañjuśrī）一同出現，後者則象徵智慧與覺悟之心。二者常分列釋迦牟尼佛左右，合成「釋迦三尊」或稱「華嚴三聖」。
此尊莊嚴壯麗之銅鑄普賢菩薩騎象座像，分三部件鑄成：主尊菩薩身、如意、及其坐騎白象。菩薩所乘之白象，即為其特有之「象王」乘騎（vahana），菩薩呈「遊觀坐」（lalitāsana）姿勢端坐其上。
京都天台宗佛寺三十三間堂（蓮華王院）亦藏有一尊類似風格之騎象普賢菩薩像，見於《三十三間堂佛像：蓮華王院三十三間堂》一書（2000年出版）。該像為十三世紀作品，雕造於平安至鎌倉時期，被視為日本佛教中普賢菩薩造像之原型。另可參本拍行於2021年5月14日售出的一尊江戶晚期至明治時期的大型銅鑄普賢菩薩騎象像，拍品306，可資比較。