AMITAYUS #23

It is an image of Amitayus with the same iconography as in piece no. 19 of the catalog and differs from it in the type of headdress, which in this case is a diadem of five peaks with the ribbons that hold it very long and curved upwards, and in the greater richness of the jewels with inlaid stones. The face also has slanted features with the most smiling expression. The hair is painted blue and is gathered in the ushnisha dropping two long locks of hair over the shoulders. She dresses similarly, but with more pronounced folds and a shawl-like shawl with two ribbons falling over her arms. It rests on a base of two rows of narrow lotus petals of the type used in the Ming dynasty, and two side pendants; consecrated by a lid with a visvavajra with a spiral in the center. The back is meticulously worked and presents in the center of the base double scrolls of Chinese influence, which appear from the seventeenth century in this type of images. It is a very decorative image due to its clothing and inlaid jewels, which could reveal a Nepalese influence and facilitate its dating, as they are used in Chinese production made for Tibet (Tibetan-Chinese style) from the 17th century onwards. It would be, therefore, a work of the last period of the Ming dynasty (14th to 17th centuries) within the so-called post-Yongle style, which continues with the characteristic features of the production of the reign of this emperor (1403?1424). The use of malachite could suggest a Mongolian work or one used in China. R.C.M. / Extracted from: Isabel CERVERA FERNÁNDEZ: Fundación Rodríguez-Acosta. Asian Art Collection. Granada, 2002. Bibliography: COMAS, R.: The art of the Himalayas in the Spanish collections: the bronzes. Madrid, 1993, p. 375-376.