Page 44 - 2020 September 23 Himalyan and Southeast Asian Works of Art Bonhams

620
A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF
THE CONFESSION BUDDHA SUVIKRANTA
TIBET, CIRCA 17TH CENTURY
A Tibetan inscription at the back of the base identifying the figure as Suvikranta, one of the
Thirty-Five Buddhas of Confession.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.13067
9 3/4 in. (24.7 cm) high

$60,000 - 80,000
西藏 約十七世紀 銅鎏金善游步功德佛像

Confession is a basic component of many Buddhist liturgies, rooted in the view that the burden
of unvirtuous deeds is lessened through their acknowledgment. In Mahayana confessional
rituals, one chants the names of the Thirty-Five Buddhas of Confession and makes offerings
before their images. This bronze depicts one such Confession Buddha, Suvikranta, who would
have held a sword in his upraised right hand, according to a vision of Je Tsongkapa (1357-
1419), founder of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Known from the Mahayana “Sutra of
the Three Heaps” (Triskandhadharmasutra), the Thirty-Five Confession Buddhas help devotees
transcend their sin.

The artist was clearly informed by the early Nepalese style of the Licchavi period (c.400-
750 CE), which was in turn influenced by Gupta images from Sarnath. Here Buddha’s face,
for example, echoes the beaked nose, full and protruding lips, and introspection typical of
Licchavi bronzes. Also, the plain, curved base below the figure, as suggested by Weldon
and Casey Singer while discussing a comparable figure of Maitreya, “is another reference to
Licchavi models, which are often cast to include a low support designed to allow attachment
to a separate lotus pedestal.” (Weldon & Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet,
London, 1999, p.120). While inspired by a Nepalese tradition, the bronze was almost certainly
commissioned in Tibet, which is known to have embarked on an artistic revival of earlier styles
in the 17th century including Taranatha’s (1575-1634) restoration of Pala-style murals at the
Jonang Puntsog Ling.

Two other bronzes, closely related in style and of similar size, are almost certainly from the
same set of Thirty-Five Confession Buddhas as this sculpture. One is preserved in the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art, published in Pal, Art of Nepal, Los Angeles, 1985, p.117,
no.S38; the other sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 24 September 1997, lot 94. All three bronzes
are finely modeled displaying smooth contours with close-fitting pleated robes, elegant hands,
and tight, detailed curls of hair.

Provenance
Private Swiss Collection
Sotheby’s, New York, 21 September 2007, lot 45
Private Hong Kong Collection
Sotheby’s, New York, 16 March 2016, lot 726
Collection FKH, USA

42 | BONHAMS