Page 31 - Maitri CollectionAsian Art Bonhams

The sculpture bears evidence of careful yet ardent worship over the past half millennia.
The worn face is now honey-colored as the gilded layer has rubbed into the dark coppery
surface underneath. Its smooth patina is indicative of reverent touching. Meanwhile, the
legs and limbs, where the gilding is lost, are dark and rough owing to heavy applications
of vermillion, curds and unguents, applied and cleaned in a constant cycle of veneration.
By contrast, the rich gilded lustrous surface preserved at the back suggests the worship
of this sculpture would have been conducted while it was installed in a small, possibly
private shrine, and not handled in the round.

At the turn of the 13th century, North India was transformed culturally by a series of
catastrophic raids that effectively eradicated Buddhism from the region. Monks and
laymen connected with monastic universities (mahaviharas) perished or fled, many
finding refuge in Nepal for a while. The Kathmandu Valley Buddhist community was
immeasurably enriched by this influx of talent, scriptures, and small bronzes brought over
by refugees, prompting the already rich tradition of artistic exchange between India and
the Newars, stretching far back into the Gupta and Licchavi periods (c.5th-8th centuries),
to flourish. It is possible that the Newar artist who created this Namasangiti sculpture was
inspired by Pala art. The deity is unknown in India, yet the technical dexterity of casting
resembles examples of multi-arm forms of Manjushri from Northeastern Indian medieval
sculpture. For a possible Pala antecedent see von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes,
Hong Kong, 1981, p.291, no.73C.

This representation of Manjushri is extremely rare and only known in Nepal, with no more
than a handful of examples known and published. Two examples, dated to the 17th
century, are held by the National Museum in Kathmandu, see Huntington, Circle of Bliss,
Los Angeles, 2003, p.428, no.132; and Waldschmidt, Nepal, The Hague, 1967, no.43.
Another smaller and less refined example is in von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes,
Hong Kong, 1981, p.356, no.94A. An illustration from the 12th-century Paramartha
Namasangiti manuscript in the Los Angeles Museum of Art depicts the deity in red
color, and holding two upright staffs (acc.#M.83.7.3; Pal, Art of Nepal, Los Angeles,
1985, p.199, no.P5). A complex paubha of the deity is preserved in the British Museum
(acc.#1949,1210,0.13), see Pal, The Art of Nepal, Leiden, 1977, no.92). It shows a
complex retinue of deities associated with his practice.

Earrings with multi-stone insets defining the flower ornament, the crown type and
armbands are common to Newari work of the early Malla period. For a close comparison
in a Shadaksari, dated to the 14th century, with similar treatment of the projecting scarf
elements, see von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p.359, no.95C.
In its superb casting, lustrous gilding, skillfully inset gems and size, the sculpture may be
compared with the Yogambara sold at Bonhams, New York, 17 March 2014, lot 5. Also
compare with a 13th-century group of Shiva Vinadhara and Parvati formerly in the Sporer
Collection, sold at Christie’s, New York, 15 September 2015, lot 2.

Provenance
Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, New York, early 1960s
Sotheby’s, New York, 2 November 1988, lot 80
Private European Collection
Carlton Rochell Asian Art, New York, 15 September 2010

THE MAITRI COLLECTION OF INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 29