Page 30 - Christie's Inidian and HImalayan Works of Art, March 2019

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF BARONESS EVA BESSENYEY
(LOTS 601-640 AND LOTS 719-724)

623
A BRONZE FIGURE OF AMITAYUS OR MANJUSHRI
NEPAL, THAKURI PERIOD, 11TH CENTURY
5Ω in. (14 cm.) high
$30,000-50,000

PROVENANCE
Christie’s New York, 17 October 2001, lot 52

The present fgure either depicts Amitayus, the tripartite crown and tubular limbs. The ribbons
bliss-body of the tathagata Amitabha, or the of fabric or samkhapatras that secure the
bodhisattva of wisdom, Manjushri. The fgure is fgure’s crown regularly appear in late Licchavi
adorned with the standard six ornaments, and is period sculpture, but later became standard,
seated in dhyanasana atop a cushioned platform corroborating the attribution of this rare sculpture
adorned with lions. These qualities would identify to the transitional Thakuri period.
him as Amitayus, but the tiger-claw necklace is
characteristic of Manjushri. For two nearly identical examples, see fgure a,
from the collection of The Metropolitan Museum
The current work displays strong characteristics of Art and fgure b, sold at Christie’s New York,
of Nepalese ateliers, as such the rich coppery 21 September 2007.
tone and throne design. Strong infuences of the
contemporaneous Pala tradition from Northeast Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org), item
India are also strongly articulated, including the no. 24492.

Figure a: Manjushri, an Emanation of Amitabha Buddha, Figure b: Christie’s New York, 21 September 2007, lot 167, sold for $73,000
11th–12th century, Nepal (Kathmandu Valley), H. 5¼ in.
(13.4 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Cynthia
Hazen Polsky, 1984, 1984.491.6