Page 9 - Himalayan Art Macrh 19 2018 Bonhams

3002
A SILVER AND COPPER INLAID GILT
BRASS ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA
TIBET, 12TH/13TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61534
5 7/8 in. (15.2 cm) high

$10,000 - 15,000

西藏 十二/十三世紀 錯銀錯紅銅佛坐像

This early bronze commemorates
Shakyamuni’s victory over Mara. Silver
inlay is used within the eyes to emphasize
his enlightened awakening. The appealing
proportions of the chest and head are
complemented by a skillfully modeled lotus
bud rising from the ushnisha. These features,
combined with the distinctive base, point to
a close relationship with the Pala style; a pair
of lions support the throne in an intermediary
layer with openwork patterns in the round.
Openwork would have been unsuited to
Tibetan ritual requirements for consecration,
but at a later point, a rolled prayer scroll was
inserted into the bronze’s interior, and the
base was fitted with copper consecration
plates.

This type of base also informed the early
bronzes of the Kagyu order, evinced in portrait
sculptures, before the double lotus format
rose to prominence by the 14th century (cf.
two examples recently sold at Bonhams,
New York, 14 March 2016, lot 10 & 14 March
2017, lot 3233).

Provenance
Private West Coast Collection, acquired in
London, early 1990s
Private Collection, Los Angeles

3003
A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF
CROWNED BUDDHA
KURKIHAR, PALA PERIOD, 11TH/12TH
CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61540
3 7/8 in. (10 cm) high

$3,000 - 5,000

庫基哈爾 帕拉時期 十一/十二世紀 戴冠銅
坐佛

Created for a private shrine, the bronze
survives with a heavily propitiated,
unencrusted patina, with dark accretions from
the smoke of butter lamps in recessed areas
suggesting it might have participated in the
Second Transmission of Buddhism from India
to Tibet (the Chidar, 10th-12th centuries).

Provenance
Private Collection, Canada
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 7