Page 28 - Bonhams Image of Devotion Hong Kong December 2, 2021

1009
A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF VASUDHARA
NEPAL, 12TH/13TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.4509
15.3 cm (6 in.) high

HKD300,000 - 400,000

尼泊爾 十二/十三世紀 銅鎏金財源天母像

Vasudhara (‘’stream of gems’’) is a beloved goddess of prosperity in Nepal’s
Kathmandu Valley. She is portrayed as a beautiful young girl. Her neck is adorned
with a cluster of gemstones above her large, partially revealed breasts. The
prominent central leaf of her tiara complements the shape of her armbands.
Her attire is silky and diaphanous, her lower garment terminating with a pleated
flourish between her ankles. Within a fluid array of six arms, her held attributes
and symbolic gestures (mudras), namely the Prajnaparamita teaching, a sheaf of
grain, a vase with the long-life elixir, a strand of wish-fulfilling jewels, charity, and
reassurance, all combine to signify her ability to bestow holistic prosperity.

This Vasudhara’s soft, sensuous physique, regalia, and high-copper casting
are classic characteristics of the Nepalese aesthetic. A Vasudhara attributed to
the 12th century in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.79.9.5) displays
similar large encasings for her gemstones, as well as the sutra also arising from
a lotus and being held very close to the goddess’s head. The nuance to the
present example’s poise also suggests a 12th-/13th-century dating. By contrast,
a 14th-/15th-century example of Vasudhara in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
(1983.547) provides a good foil for the present example’s earlier attribution.

Provenance
Richard Olson, USA
Private Swiss Collection, acquired in 1970s

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