Early Sri Lankan Gilded Bronze Buddha

This finely cast, early miniature image of the Buddha is of bronze that has been gilded. The composition and the narrowness of the image suggest it is from Anuradhapura and dates to the 8th-9th century. The shoulders are broad and the limbs are elongated.

The Buddha sits in the virasana meditation position with legs crossed and both hands resting on the lap in the dhyana mudra pose.

The face is full and rounded.

The Buddha wears the simple robes of a monk – but has elongated ear lobes indicating his aristocratic family background. There is a small spiky cranial protuberance (ushnisha) on the top of the head. The Buddha’s hair is suggested by a marked hairline but the curls are only hinted at by light dimpling.

The relative lack of a ushnisha is in keeping with the early dating. The plain, unembellished robes also suggest an earlier dating. Later, the robes of Sri Lankan Buddhas usually were engraved with ripple-like motifs.

The Buddha sits on a low, raised platform.

See Menzies (1994, p. 31) for a larger but related image, and Pal (2004, p. 56) for a similarly sized image.

The image here is in fine condition. It has a very dark patina and only remnants of the gilding remain. The age and wear is such that the image has become unbalanced over time and now requires weighting so that it sits upright. (We achieve this my simply adding some unobtrusive blue-tack to the underside of the image!)