Page 108 - Himalayan Art Macrh 19 2018 Bonhams

3041
A COPPER ALLOY JALAMANUSHA
NEPAL, 17TH/18TH CENTURY
Cast in two parts with lid and body separating at the figure’s waist.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61568
8 1/4 in. (21 cm) high

$20,000 - 30,000

尼泊爾 十七/十八世紀 嘉拉滿努沙 緊那羅銅像

This rare and beautiful ritual object depicts the unique Nepalese take
on the half-human, half-bird celestial creature in Buddhist art known
more broadly as a kinnara. The sculptor has impressively married
human and avian forms, giving her a charming smile while offering a
garland of flowers, and an ornate flourish of feathers across her back.
Whereas the kinnara might have talons resembling that of a peacock
in Thailand, in Nepal, she has the webbed feet of a duck. The present
lot is one of the finest examples of Nepalese jalamanusha, comparing
favorably to two other published examples, one held in the Dallas
Museum of Art (acc. #PG.2012.6) and another in the Nalin collection
published in Vajracharya, Nepalese Seasons, Rain and Ritual, New
York, 2016, p.45, no.5.

The mythic creature can be traced in Buddhist art to as far back as
the railings of Sanchi. An early textual reference in the Candakinnara
Jataka mentions that a kinnara dies of a broken heart when separated
from her mate. According to Kossak, the jataka possibly led to
kinnaras becoming symbols of marital fidelity, which would explain the
appearance of jalamanusha in the context of a Nepalese family portrait
depicting Gaganasim and His Wives, published in Pal, Himalayas,
Chicago, 2003, p.69, no.38.

Provenance
Private Asian Collection

106 | BONHAMS