Page 28 - 2020 September 23 Himalyan and Southeast Asian Works of Art Bonhams

613
A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF MANJUSHRI
NEPAL, 14TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.16818
4 3/8 in. (11 cm) high
$10,000 - 15,000

尼泊爾 十四世紀 銅鎏金文殊菩薩像

Identified by the sword and sutra by each shoulder, Manjushri, the
Bodhisattva of Perfected Wisdom, smiles while slightly tilting his head.
An unusual stylistic feature is the placement of his sacred thread, here
hanging down from the bodhisattva’s right shoulder, while in most
Buddhist images it is seen on the left. Another example is a 14th-
century gilt-bronze Maitreya or Manjushri in Drigung Monastery (von
Schroeder, Buddhist Sculpture in Tibet, Vol. II, Hong Kong, 2001,
pp.1032-3, no.256D-E). Compare with a closely related Manjushri
published in von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981,
p.376, no.100C.

Provenance
Private Swiss Collection since 2007

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