Jambuphati Buddha. Burma, Kingdom of Ava, XVII-XVIII centuries.

Jambuphati Buddha. Burma, Kingdom of Ava, XVII-XVIII century.
Bronze.
Brown-black patina.
Good state of preservation, with some cracks and missing pieces.
Measurements: 28,5 x 14 x 8,5 cm.

Burmese bronze. It represents Jambuphati assimilated to Buddha, seated in the posture of lotus and making with the hands the gesture of taking the earth by witness, the bhumiparsa mudra. He wears carvings that emulate courtly brocades, and his openwork crown has been carved with precision. According to legend, Jambuphati was a warlord who submitted to the Dharma after realizing the greatness of the Buddha. He then decided to become a Buddhist monk. It is known that the first images of the crowned Buddha Jambuphati come from Pyu, where the Indian influence is strongly felt in the Buddhist arts during the eighteenth century. He has been depicted performing the mudra of taking the earth as a witness, seated in the lotus flower position. The Bhumisparsa mudra, or gesture of touching the earth, alludes to the moment in which Buddha solved the problem of ending suffering when he was under the tree in Bodhi-Gaya. The symmetry of his physiognomic features express serenity, the closed eyelids indicate meditation, the elongated earlobes denote nobility and wisdom.