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A SILVERED COPPER ALLOY STUPA
SRI LANKA, DIVIDED KINGDOMS PERIOD, 13TH-15TH CENTURY13 1/2 in. (34.2 cm) high
注脚
斯里蘭卡 十三至十五世紀 銅鎏銀佛塔 Derived from ancient Indic burial mounds erected for important leaders, stupas ('dagaba' in Sri Lanka) are centers for Buddhist worship and pilgrimage, often housing, or having housed, physical relics of the Buddha. Bronze models of stupas are also objects of worship, with grander examples, such as the present work, often housing relics of important members of a community, whose consecrated remains continue to bless the environment around it. The four modeled leaves draped across this model's dome, from the corners of the square pavilion above, reinforcing the cosmological symbolism of the stupa's sacred contents emanating throughout the cardinal directions. Likely to have previously contained the relics of an important monk or nun, the present lot is a rare silver-plated bronze stupa from Sri Lanka's Divided Kingdoms Period (13th-16th centuries). Like many bronze Sri Lankan stupas, the present example is cast in two parts, secured together by a hinge and lock mechanism at the base of dome. Representing the mundane world, the stepped circular pedestal is cast with a thinner, more economical metal than the heavy silver-plated dome representing the sky, and the tall spire representing the heavens. Decoration on a Sri Lankan bronze stupa is usually sparse, if present at all. The relative abundance of flower and leaf patterns appearing on this stupa therefore ranks it among the more ornate of examples. This stupa's bell-shaped dome is typical of the Divided Kingdoms Period, with proportions similar to the central, 40ft high stupa of Vijayantha Prasada, erected at Gadaladeniya Vihara, an important temple complex in Kandy, in the mid-14th century. A closely related gilt stupa attributed to the Divided Kingdoms Period, also constructed in separate parts, with comparable dome and pendant leaves, is on display in the National Museum of Colombo. Similarly shaped monumental stupas produced in emerging Thai kingdoms provide another source for dating this rare stupa between the 13th and 15th centuries. See, for instance, Wat Umong of Lan Na (1297), Wat Sa Si of Sukhothai (late 14th-century), and Wat Maheyong of Ayutthaya (1438). Although the Divided Kingdoms Period was marred by three hundred years of political instability, it was also an era of significant religious and cultural exchange with new Thai kingdoms, whose statecraft, art, and architecture Sinhalese Buddhism played a decisive role in. Bearing this in mind, the present bronze stupa is not only an important artifact in Sri Lankan history, but also for the history of Buddhist art and architecture of Southeast Asia. Published Janet Baker et al., Sacred Word and Image: Five World Religions, Phoenix, 2012, pp.12-3, figs.1a-b. Exhibited Sacred Word and Image: Five World Religions, Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona, 4 January-25 March 2012. Provenance Private Collection, US, by 1957 Thence by descent