Seated Buddha

CHINA; Northern Wei dynasty

The Buddha is seated cross-legged upon a Sumeru throne with a reverse lotus motif on its base with hands in dhyana (meditation) mudra. The monastic robe the Buddha wears leaves the right shoulder bare. The stand on which the work is positioned has figures making offerings on two of its front legs with a censer on its crosspiece.
The ornate mandorla encloses a nimbus with a flaming outer rim, and a triple-rimmed aureole. An additional rim, typical of work from the Taihe period (477–499), can be seen above the nimbus. Stylized undulations representing flames fill the rest of the mandorla.
The back of the sculpture depicts a larger Buddha, also in the meditation posture, wearing a monastic robe over both shoulders. The figure sits within a lotus that fills the bottom of a similarly complex mandorla. An inscription on the stand states that the statue was dedicated by a devotee from the Su family during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534).