Page 130 - Christie's Inidian and HImalayan Works of Art, March 2019

THE PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE ASIAN COLLECTOR
690
A LARGE REPOUSSÉ GILT-COPPER FIGURE
OF MAITREYA
NEPAL, 17TH-18TH CENTURY
19¡ in. (49.2 cm.) high
$120,000-180,000

PROVENANCE
Private collection, Belgium, by 1981
Christie’s London, 22 April 1981, lot 70
Christie’s Paris, 21 November 2008, lot 240
The present fgure of Maitreya is an iconic example of late
Nepalese sculptural tradition. The hems of the dhoti and the sash
draped over the waist are elaborately incised with a scrolling foliate
motif, while the jewelry and crown is in an organic lotiform design
that mirrors the lotuses that bloom at the shoulders.

In the later Malla period, from the sixteenth through eighteenth
centuries, the rulers of the three kingdoms of the Kathmandu
Valley engaged in an extensive construction program to compete
with their neighbors. As their central squares increasingly flled
with temples and palaces, the demand for religious images
reached epic proportions. To meet that demand, the artisans of
the Kathmandu Valley turned to the repoussé technique, which
was faster and more material-conscious than bronze casting.
In the repoussé technique, thin sheets of metal are beaten over
molds and then pieced together to form a three-dimensional
image. While many were in simple copper, polished to imitate
gilding, the most important works, including the present work,
were richly gilded.
Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org), item no. 24502.

(back view)

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