TWO-DAY AUCTION - Fine Chinese Art / 中 國藝術集珍 / Buddhism & Hinduism (CA0321) Sat, 6th Mar 2021 Lot 727

Starting price: €1000 Estimate: €2000 A LARGE GILT BRONZE STATUE OF MAHAKATYAYANA, RATTANAKOSIN KINGDOM Thailand, late 18th to mid-19th century. Seated in dhyanasana on a stepped two-tiered base, the hands supporting his huge belly, wearing a dhoti with a finely incised shawl draped over the left shoulder, the face with a meditative yet slightly humorous expression, flanked by pendulous ears, the hair in tight curls.

Provenance: From an Austrian private collector. Condition: Fine and original condition with old wear and minor losses to the gilding and lacquer. Some minor fatigue fractures. Few tiny dents and nicks here and there. Some losses.

Weight: 27 kg Dimensions: Height 46 cm

Mahakatyayana (or Katyayana) was a disciple of Gautama Buddha, listed among one of the ten principal disciples and renowned for his ability to elaborate on the Shakyamuni's terse instructions. His fat appearance is almost certainly co-opted from Chinese images of Budai. However, according to Thai folklore, Mahakatyayana (Thai: Sangkajai) was extremely sought after for his looks, so he transformed himself into a fat monk to avoid distraction from the arhat path. Greatly revered in Thailand, a similar, monumental sculpture of Mahakatyayana is built in Wat Bang Nam Phueng Nok, in Samut Prakan province (see fig. 1).

Auction result comparison: Compare with a related but slightly larger copper alloy figure of Mahakatyayana (Himalayan Art Resources item no. 61649) at Bonhams Hong Kong in The Presencer Collection of Buddhist Art on 2 October 2018, lot 138, bought-in at an estimate of HKD 160,000-240,000.