QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

It is rare to find jade figures of Buddha of such small size. One closely related example is a white jade figure of Amitayus of comparable size with gilt and turquoise embellishments, placed within a gilt Tibetanstyle stupa dating to the 18th century, in the Qing Court Collection and now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, exhibited in Monarchy and Its Buddhist Way: Tibetan-Buddhist Ritual Implements in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1999, pl. 29. The present jade figure was, therefore, possibly originally made for the placement within a Buddhist stupa as part of an altar set.