Page 98 - Christie's Inidian and HImalayan Works of Art, March 2019

670
A PARCEL-GILT-SILVER FIGURE
OF A DAKINI
TIBET, 15TH-16TH CENTURY
Figure 4¿ in. (10.9 cm.) high, associated
gilt-bronze base 6√ in. (17.5 cm.) high
$30,000-50,000

PROVENANCE
Acquired in the Hong Kong art market, 1995

The present fgure, despite its small size, is fnely
cast in silver, with crisp details in the garland of
skulls, jewelry, facial features, and the hair and
crown. Certain details, such as the beaded jewelry,
implements, crown, and the billowing sash are
gilded, resulting in an exquisite contrasting efect,
amplifed by the inclusion of semi-precious stones.
Stylistically, the present fgure can be compared
with a gilt-silver fgure of Vajrapani, formerly in
the Pan-Asian Collection, and frst illustrated
by Pratapaditya Pal in The Sensuous Immortals,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1977, p. 187, no. 113;
both fgures are cast in silver, but are gilded on the
jewelry, crown, and drapery. The sharply incised
facial features of both fgures, with furrowed brows
and nose and agape mouth, are also remarkably
similar. Without their bases, the two fgures are
also approximately the same size. The Pan-Asian
example retains a compressed double-lotus
base consistent with ffteenth-sixteenth century
Tibetan sculpture. The rich gilding, fame motif
in the aureole, and trampled fgures, suggest the
base may be later associated.
Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org),
item no. 24504.

96