Page 23 - Bonhams Image of Devotion Hong Kong December 2, 2021

The artist(s) must have been aware of the early Nepalese style of the Licchavi
period (400-750 CE), itself influenced by Gupta (320-600 CE) images from
Sarnath, India. The connection is evident when comparing the present Maitreya
with a 7th-century Nepalese figure of Buddha Shakyamuni at the Kimbell Art
Museum, Fort Worth (AP 1979.01). Both faces feature broad foreheads, beaked
noses, protruding lower lips, and dainty chins. Maitreya’s diaphanous robe, with
parallel lines draping across his svelte body, also echoes the Licchavi Buddha.
Also notable is the webbing between the fingers. Although webbed fingers are
often present in Licchavi Buddha images, they are rarely seen in later Nepalese
or Tibetan bronzes (for a more detailed discussion on the sculpture’s reference
to Licchavi models, see Weldon & Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet, 1999,
p.120). A gilt bronze figure of Amoghasiddhi is also clearly of a later period reviving
the Licchavi aesthetic with similar physiognomy and webbed fingers, but slightly
different robe treatment (Russek, Novel Art: Far Eastern Antiquities, Zurich, 1992).

While inspired by the sculptural traditions of India and Nepal, this bronze group
was probably commissioned by Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, Tibet, which
is the traditional monastic seat of the Panchen Lama, the Gelug order’s second-in-
command. When discussing a group of ‘Tashilima’ bronzes formerly in the Getty
Collection, Luo Wenhua concluded that the type of base plate engraved with a
visvavajra and painted with cold gold is diagnostic of either Tibetan bronzes made
in Tashikitsel (the workshop of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery) or Khalkha Mongolian
bronzes (see Luo, ‘Tashi Lhunpo Statuary: Karma and Mt Meru’, in Bonhams, Fine
Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 26 November 2019). Although
this Maitreya did not survive with its original base plate, the Suvikranta from this
group features the type described by Luo, who further observes that Tashikitsel
had frequent, long-term exchanges with workshops in Nepal in the 17th century.
Therefore, the base plate of the Suvikranta image, the Tibetan inscriptions
included on the Confession Buddha figures, and the strong Nepalese influence
seen across this group, all point to a strong association with the important Gelug
monastery of Tashi Lhunpo.

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