June 21, 2023: On June 13, a unique Buddha statue was auctioned in Paris for $2.2 million. Continue reading to know more!
A rare Chinese Buddha statue discovered in a French family house and part of a lost set was auctioned for 2.2 million US Dollars (INR 18,05,61,700) at auction on June 13 in Paris.
The sculpture is a highly rare wood figure, a religious work depicting the Buddhist Bodhisattva Guanyin carved in the 12th-13th centuries during the Jin dynasty, according to auction house Bonhams. The Jin dynasty or Jin Empire, sometimes known as the Sima Jin or the Two Jins, was a Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 266 to 420. It was built by Sima Yan, the eldest son of Sima Zhao, who was formerly proclaimed the King of Jin.
The over-a-metre-tall sculpture was last sold in the 1930s to a family in Boulogne, a Paris suburb. The family would prefer to stay nameless.
Large statues like the one for sale were originally created for Buddhist monasteries. Caroline Schulten, the head of Bonhams Chinese art, claimed the family was unaware of its value until they called her for an estimate.
"It was passed down in the family to the present generation, and it had been sitting in a private home," she explained.
"What has happened since then (the last sale) is that it has lost the fingers of one hand...which were obviously present when it was sold in 1932. In the meantime, I was told there were children playing football around it, so clearly things happened," Schulten remarked.
According to Bonhams auction company, there are likely only a few such pieces left in the world, most of which are in museums.
"Because this is one of the few that has survived, it's possible that more pieces from this group are still around in France, Belgium, or Switzerland. And it's thrilling to think that perhaps the sale of this figure, or the publicity around it, would prompt more people to look about their homes and realise, 'We've got a figure like that,'" said Schulten.
Siddhartha Gautama, often known as the Buddha ("the awakened"), was a wandering religious teacher who founded Buddhism in South Asia in the 6th or 5th century BCE.
According to Buddhist legend, he was born in Lumbini, Nepal, to royal Shakya clan parents, but rejected his home life to live as a travelling ascetic (characterised by severe self-discipline for religious purposes) (Sanskrit: ramaa). After a life of meditation, he reached enlightenment in what is now India at Bodh Gaya. Following that, the Buddha journeyed through the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and establishing a monastic (related to monks) order.