Page 36 - 2020 Nov 30 Christie's Hong Kong Important Chiense Works of Art

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE EUROPEAN
COLLECTION
3011

A GILT-COPPER FIGURE OF PADMAPANI
LOKESHVARA
NEPAL, 13TH CENTURY
The figure is gracefully standing in tribhanga with his right hand
lowered in varada mudra, and holding a lotus flower in his left that
extends up to his shoulder. The figure is wearing a short dhoti
incised with floral blooms and is secured with a sash tied at the
waist that suspends folded ribbons extending to the knees. The
deity is adorned with a necklace embellished with pendent jewels,
florette armlets and large looped earrings. The face with a fine
nose between gently arched brows above eyes downcast to portray
a benign expression. The head is crowned with a foliate tiara
centred by large lotus bloom and flanked by tresses of hair falling
down on both shoulders.
8 º in. (21 cm.) high
HK$900,000-1,200,000 US$120,000-160,000

PROVENANCE
Acquired in Germany before 1989
Avalokitesvara, the ‘Lord who looks upon the World’, is the bodhisattva
of compassion, and one of the principle deities in Mahayana Buddhism.
Although he has attained enlightenment like the Buddha, the
bodhisattva forgoes his escape from the suffering of rebirth to act
as a guide to all living beings until they themselves have achieved
nirvana. Worshipped in many guises, the present figure is depicted as
Padmapani, the ‘holder of the lotus’. Like the lotus, which rises from
its murky bed below the water to blossom in the air, Padmapani has
detached himself from the pain and impurities of the material world
and is enlightened in body, speech, and mind.
Worshipped in Nepal from at least the mid-6th century, Avalokitesvara
was one of the most popular Buddhist deities in the Kathmandu
Valley, his worship rivaling that of the Buddha himself. With time, the
compassionate characteristics of Avalokitesvara became intertwined
with the attributes of the local Nepalese deities such as the rain god,
Bunga-dyo, and even the Brahmanical Shiva, and the customs for
worship of these different gods were integrated into one another.
Demand for images of this auspicious bodhisattva was therefore
staggering, and from an early period, craftsmen throughout the valley
were executing works in wood, stone, paint, and bronze.

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⯝㯳ࣇ卿⯇ႚ⫒⣭⊂Ӭភ⸥Ɽ㎜ᇨ⡩᲼⯝㬦㷆ᚳⵖǯӴ㕇⥿ߴⱤݛᓽ卿
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⒢Ǯ㠩ࣿ⊺۬ǯ

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