Page 85 - 2021 March 18 to 19th, Important Chinese Works of Art, Christie's New York City

The present stupa is very rare in its elaborate
decoration and very large size. Few stupas of equally
large size and elaborate decoration appear to have
been published. One very similar stupa, also of very
large size (147 cm. high) is dated to the Qianlong
period (1736-1795) and is in the collection of the
Palace Museum, Beijing. The Emperor Qianlong
issued an edict after the death of his mother, the
Empress Dowager Chongqing, to have this stupa
made in her honor. It took over three months to
complete and was finally housed in the East Buddha
Hall of Shoukang Palace, where his mother, the
Empress Dowager Chongqing, had lived. The
present stupa is similar to the Palace Museum
example in its size, composition, design scheme, and
stand carved with Buddhist lions. Both stupas reflect
the elaborate quality and high craftsmanship of Qing
dynasty metalwork.
Other related gilt-bronze stupas include one smaller
example (83.1 cm. high) dated to the Qing dynasty,
in the collection of the National Palace Museum,
Taipei, illustrated in A Special Exhibition of Buddhist
Gilt Votive Objects, Taipei, 1995, pp. 76-7, no. 7; and
another example (95 cm. high), dated to the Qing
dynasty, in the collection of the National Palace
Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Cultural Relics of
Tibetan Buddhism Collected in the Qing Palace,
Beijing, 1998, pp. 212-3, no. 105.

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