1. Become familiar
with the history.
Not surprisingly, given the wide reach of his teachings, the
Buddha and other Buddhist deities have been interpreted widely, and in many
different styles and materials. Artisans have used stone, stucco, terracotta,
wood, lacquer, and metals such as bronze, gold, and silver to recreate them.
According to Bruck, identifying a material can help anchor
where a certain image was made, and in what time period. ‘Certain materials
were favoured in different countries,’ he says. ‘The ancient region of Gandhara
in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Today, the most sought-after Buddhist sculptures are usually
gilt-bronzes, with certain time periods particularly attractive to the market.
For example, Bruck says, early Ming dynasty works from the reign of the Yongle
and Xuande Emperors, the gilt-bronzes of 15th-century Tibet
To begin to be able to distinguish between cultures, styles
and historical periods, Bruck suggests that a collector view as many examples
of Buddhist sculpture as possible. In New York ,
he recommends visiting the Rubin
Museum of Art, which is dedicated to the art and preservation
of the cultures of the Himalayas, India California
Great reference books are also a necessity. Two definitive
tomes are Ulrich von Schroeder’s Indo-Tibetan Bronzes and Buddhist
Sculptures in Tibet, which are carefully organised by type. Bruck
notes that they are out of print, so it can take some digging at rare
bookstores — and a fair amount of cash — to get your hands on a copy.
Fortunately, there is Himalayan
Art Resources — a website run by Jeff Watt, a
leading scholar of Himalayan art — which catalogues more than 66,000 images and
serves as an excellent starting point for research.
2. Tastes change,
but quality holds its value.
Bruck explains that the market for Buddhist sculptures can
fluctuate, with different periods or styles rising and falling in popularity.
An exemplary piece from any time period, however, will hold its value.
What makes for great quality in a Buddhist sculpture is
based on a number of things, including the stylistic modelling of the figure,
the rarity of the subject, and the skill of the artist. ‘At the end of the day,
people are buying [Buddhist sculptures] because they are beautiful and well
made,’ Bruck notes. When considering your price point, he adds, always buy the
highest quality work you can afford.
3. Never judge a
piece on photographs alone.
As a universal rule, you should never buy a sculpture unless you
have seen it in person. ‘A terrible work can look really great in a photograph,
and the converse is true as well,’ Bruck notes.
More than getting a better sense of what the sculpture
actually looks like, handling the physical work allows you to study all of its
components, including its weight, texture and sometimes even smell. ‘Some
experts claims newly-made bronzes have a certain acidic odour, although the
legitimacy of this claim I can neither confirm nor deny,’ jokes Bruck. As you
start building up your visual memory, you will be able to spot little things
that are evidence of something not being quite right with a work.
4. The back and
underneath of a piece can be most revealing.
When forgers make replicas or copies of a sculpture, they
generally do so using the aid of published references. In such references, you
only see the front of a sculpture — the back and the bottom are not generally
published. The forgers recreate these parts from their imaginations, which
makes for strange — and frequently bizarre — design components.
For example, Bruck says, the drapery of a Buddha’s robe
might fold strangely — or the jewellery of a bodhisattva won’t
sit properly. Sometimes, the back of a sculpture looks more cursorily completed
than the front, betraying the forger’s lack of concern with making the back
look as well finished as the front. For an artisan producing an original, every
aspect of the work is equally important.
Bruck recommends that collectors should pay careful
attention to the hands, feet, jewellery and drapery. ‘Those are the hardest
things to model for anyone.’ If any of these seem poorly rendered, it’s a sign
that, at the very least, the work is not of very high quality.
5. Look for
inscriptions.
The artists who created Buddhist
sculptures are anonymous. On certain occasions, however, sculptures are marked
with inscriptions that indicate they were made during the reign of a certain
emperor or in the lifetime of a Tibetan lama (teacher).
These works, Bruck says, are particularly valuable.
Inscriptions usually provide additional insight into the
lives of those who worshipped them. One particularly interesting group to look
out for are works marked with inscriptions that state they belong to the collection
of Naga Raja, a 10th-11th century Western Tibetan noble-born monk. He amassed
an impressive number of Buddhist sculptures dated from the 8th to the 11th
centuries, many of which are in museums today. ‘Bronzes with the Naja Raja
inscription are some of my favourites,’ says Bruck. ‘They represent perhaps the
earliest recorded collecting history in this field.’
6. You don’t have to
be a Buddhist to appreciate Buddhist sculpture.
Although many collectors are drawn to the religious components of
the objects, others appreciate the rich history of more than 2,000 years of
Buddhist art. Over that period, Bruck notes, artisans and theologians have
delved deeper and deeper into the nature of Buddhism, coming up with new ways
to think about the principles of Buddha’s teachings. The resultant esoteric
forms, reflected in the diversity of Buddhist deities, and particularly
represented in Tibetan-style Buddhism, offer countless avenues for study and
appreciation.
An interest in Buddhist sculpture is an interest in
ideology, iconography, and the consistency of certain themes throughout
millennia — universal themes that can find an audience in everyone.
7. Condition is key.
As with any other area of collecting art, condition is an
important aspect in the value of a work. Given the age of many Buddhist
sculptures, however, one must be realistic, and chances are that many examples
will have undergone some form of restoration. Unfortunately, some restorations
are better than others, and Bruck advises collectors to always consult a
specialist to learn how significantly restorative work might change the value
of a work.
Different materials obviously have varying levels of durability.
Bronze and stone are the most hardy, while stucco, terracotta and lacquer can
be difficult to preserve. Bruck advises that those looking to make long-term
investments be cautious of any materials that are going to change dramatically
due to environmental or natural decay.
8. Follow the
provenance.
‘A work with old,
well-documented provenance will always be worth considerably more than a
similar work with no history,’ says Bruck. A rich provenance will sometimes
help to ensure authenticity. ‘If a work is from a prestigious collection or has
been published by a well-known scholar,’ he adds, ‘then in many cases, it has
already gone through a vetting process.’
Like many ancient
works, Buddhist sculptures are bound by international laws that sometimes
prohibit their sale outside their country of origin. Bruck explains that
Chinese works dating from the Tang dynasty or earlier (pre-906 A.D.), for
example, must have been outside China
prior to 2009, as per the bilateral agreement between the US and China Cambodia United
States
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