Page 22 - 2020 September 23 Himalyan and Southeast Asian Works of Art Bonhams

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A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF MANJUSHRI Published
TIBET, 13TH/14TH CENTURY David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of
Himalayan Art Resources item no.68442 Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999,
2 1/2 in. (6.3 cm) high fig.44, p.72.
F. Ricca, Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell’ Himalaya, Turin,
$15,000 - 20,000 2004, fig.IV.41.
K. Debreczeny, “Wutai Shan: Pilgrimage to Five-Peak Mountain”, in
西藏 十三/十四世紀 銅鎏金文殊菩薩像 Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, Issue 6
(December 2011), cat.24.

Of miniature stature, this figure of Manjushri is superbly modeled and Exhibited
detailed. The Bodhisattva of Transcendental Wisdom has a robust, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam
young body sumptuously adorned with turquoise-inset regalia. The Collection, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 6 October – 30 December
floral patterns incised on his lower garment are redolent of the sizable 1999.
lotus flowering with a sutra by his left shoulder. Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell’ Himalaya, Palazzo
Bricherasio, Turin, June – September 2004.
Consecrated in the Tibetan manner, this bronze was likely Wutaishan: Pilgrimage to Five Peak Mountain, Rubin Museum of Art,
commissioned by a Tibetan patron. However, the deity’s broad New York, 10 May – 16 October 2007.
forehead, sensuous body, and the application of black and red Casting the Divine: Sculptures of the Nyingjei Lam Collection, Rubin
pigments at the back indicate the involvement of a Newari artist. Museum of Art, New York, 2 March 2012 – 11 February 2013.
See a slightly larger figure of Manjushri sold at Bonhams, New York,
13 March 2017, lot 3069, and a related figure of Vajrasattva sold at Provenance
Sotheby’s, London, 23 July 1984, lot 35. The Nyingjei Lam Collection
On loan to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1996 – 2005
On loan to the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2005 – 2019

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