Page 161 - Himalayan Art Macrh 19 2018 Bonhams

3073
A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF VISHNU
NORTHEASTERN INDIA, PALA PERIOD, 11TH CENTURY
7 1/4 in. (18.8 cm) high

$10,000 - 15,000

Bright orange accretions in recessed areas and a buttery patina with
well-rubbed and raised edges suggest that, beyond its creation in the
medieval Pala kingdom of Northeastern India, this bronze might have
received an active and lengthy devotional career in Nepal. While much
attention has been paid to the transmission of Buddhist sculptures
and teachings between Indian monasteries and Tibet between the
10th and 12th centuries, Nepal’s role as a geographic and artistic
intermediary, and a recipient of Buddhist and Hindu traditions, has
perhaps not been explored to its fullest – something that the indication
of Nepalese devotion on this bronze prompts us to consider.

Compare the bronze stylistically, its size and slender proportions, to the
central figure of a complete shrine in the Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, attributed c.1025, published in Pal, Indian Sculpture, Vol.2, Los
Angeles, 1988, pp.201-2, no.100a. The present bronze also compares
favorably to another example sold Sotheby’s, New York, 4 June 1994,
lot 104.

Provenance
Private New York Collection, acquired in New York, 1980s

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