LARGE BRONZE BUDAI STATUE Ming dynasty, dated... Lot 45

LARGE BRONZE BUDAI STATUE Ming dynasty, dated to the 5th year of the Jiajing reign (1526) A RARE LARGE INSCRIBED AND DATED GILT-LACQUER BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDAI Dated to the 5th year of the Jiajing reign (1526) Heavily cast seated in maharajalilasana on a lotus base, holding a mala in his right hand resting on his knee, wearing a floral-hemmed robe loosely draped and revealing his shoulders and belly, the face with a joyful laughing expression, with eyes closed and lips parted in a wide smile, framed by pendulous earlobes, the base cast around the back with an inscription reading seng de shou yuan lin jiajing wunian sanyue chuba ri zao tongfo yizun jin jiang chu □ren ming kai □ yu hou ('the monk Deshou Yuanlin made this Buddha figure in bronze on the eighth day of the third month in the fifth year of Jiajing (1526), followed by the names of donors). 56cm (22in) high. Footnotes: 明嘉靖五年（1526年）銅漆金布袋和尚坐像 Provenance: Collection of Anders Hellström (1877-1940) Anders Hellström started collecting Chinese bronzes purchasing mainly from great European dealers including Orvar Karlbeck, a professional collector for the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, who lived and worked in China from 1906 to 1927 as a railroad engineer. Anders Hellström assembled an important collection of ancient Chinese bronzes that was acquired by the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm after his death. 来源: Anders Hellström (1877-1940)旧藏 Anders Hellström 很早就開始收藏青銅器，其藏品主要來自歐洲各大古董商，其中包括遠東古物博物館的專業收藏家Orvar Karlbeck，后者曾於1906年至1927年在中國擔任鐵路工程師。Anders Hellström辞世後，其部分青銅器藏品被瑞典遠東古物博物館收購納入館藏。 Compare with another figure of Budai, dated by inscription to the fourth year of Jiajing (1525), sold at Sotheby's New York, 13 September 2017, lot 128. Another example, formerly in the collection of Stephen Junkunc, III, and dated the third year of Xuande (1428), sold at Christies New York, 13 and 14 September 2018, lot 1134. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com