Page 29 - 2020 September 23 Himalyan and Southeast Asian Works of Art Bonhams

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A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF MANJUSHRI The figure’s smooth, golden skin and swelled physique counterbalance
NEPAL, 14TH CENTURY the angular detail of his regalia. Several stylistic factors indicate the
Himalayan Art Resources item no.16807 hand of a 14th-century Nepalese craftsman likely working in Tibet.
6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm) high Chief among them is the artist’s choice of modeling a lightly-clad, well-
nourished physique, emphasizing a display of the young bodhisattva’s
$35,000 - 45,000 robust limbs more than the textiles that cover them. Moreover, the
crown type—a multitiered Vajracharya crown—is a type worn by a
尼泊爾 十四世紀 銅鎏金文殊菩薩像 Nepalese priesthood. However, the bronze’s tall lotus base is built to
accommodate the Tibetan practice of consecrating sculptures. The
base’s bulbous lotus petals are redolent of the Pala style and help to
This thickly cast gilded bronze depicts Manjushri with his hands raised inform a date of no later than a century or two after the widespread
in the gesture of ‘Furthering the Dharma’. From this action spring two ruin of Pala monasteries in the early 13th century.
lotuses that bloom at his shoulders and bear a sutra and a wisdom
sword, which has the power to cut through ignorance. Provenance
Private German Collection
Nagel Auktionen, Stuttgart, 8 May 2014, lot 46

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