Bodhisattva Maitreya – Gandhara Style in China

Gilt bronze. China, Western Jin dynasty, circa 300 AD.
Height to top of base: 33.1 cm.
(12.75 inches)
Height to bottom of base: 34.3 cm.
Very similar to the sole other known close example – in the collection of the Fujii Saiseikai Yurinkan, Kyoto,
Japan, which has a height of 33.1 cm. The Yurinkan example depicts the right hand webbed.
"Standing, he wears a royal costume that partially reveals his body, conspicuous and heavy jewelry, and sandals. His hair is rendered with striations and is piled on top of his head in the style of the caste in which Maitreya will return in his last incarnation. His right hand performs the fear-not gesture, and in his left hand he carries a bottle, as ascetic Brahmins do. In each of the details, the image accurately reflects the Gandharan norm…" (quote taken
from Angela Falco Howard’s Chinese Sculpture, describing the Yurinkan example). In Early Buddhist Art of China and Central Asia, Marilyn Martin Rhie writes about and illustrates the Maitreya in the Yurinkan collection, attributing it to "circa late" 3rd century A.D. (Western Chin)" and “from San-yuan hsien (near Sian)”.

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