Page 54 - Maitri CollectionAsian Art Bonhams

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A GILT LACQUERED WOOD MANUSCRIPT COVER WITH A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF HAYAGRIVA
PRAJNAPARAMITA, SHAKYAMUNI, AND THE NEPAL OR TIBET, LATE 13TH/EARLY 14TH CENTURY
WISDOM BUDDHAS Himalayan Art Resources item no.61522
TIBET, CIRCA 13TH CENTURY 6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm) high
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61528
5 1/8 x 20 3/4 in. (13 x 52.7 cm) high $8,000 - 12,000

$5,000 - 8,000 尼泊爾/西藏 十三/十四世紀 銅鎏金馬頭明王像

西藏 約十三世紀 木雕彩漆般若波羅蜜多護經板 The size of this rare deity suggests that it may have been originally
part of a larger ensemble fulfilling his role as a protector or directional
Elaborately carved and well-preserved, the manuscript cover depicts guardian. An elaborate 12th-century casting of ‘Scenes from the Life
the Tathagatas above each of their associated vehicles, with Vairocana of Buddha’, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art contains closely
at the center. Prajnaparamita and Shakyamuni are to the left and right. related figures beneath the throne (Pal, The Art of Nepal, Los Angeles,
The broad physiognomy and profuse scrollwork are indicative of the 1985, p.103, no.S22).
Malla style of Nepal – the cover likely produced by a Newari craftsman
for a Tibetan patron. Its narrow height suggests a c.13th century date, Compare the crown and robust proportions of a 13th/14th century
before larger folios became common. Vajrapani suggested to be from the Khasa Malla region in the Alain
Bordier Collection, published in Béguin, Art sacré du Tibet, Suilly-la-
Compare with a gilded Prajnaparamita manuscript from the Museum Tour, 2013, p.114, no.44 and a smaller figurine of Takkiraja of similar
of Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge, published in Elliott, form sold at Bonhams, London, 12 November 2015, lot 76.
Diemberger & Clemente, Buddha’s World, Cambridge, 2014, p.118,
and another related manuscript cover in the Los Angeles County Provenance
Museum of Art, published in Pal, Art of Tibet, Los Angeles, 1983, Private Collection, London
p.130. Shirley Day Ltd, London, 2006
Marcel Nies Oriental Art, Antwerp, 19 June 2006
The underside retains much of its original painted decoration, featuring
the ashtamangala and an impressively freehanded kirtimukha and lotus
scroll border.

Provenance
Private Collection, New Zealand
Marcel Nies Oriental Art, Antwerp
Acquired from the above at TEFAF Maastricht, March 2007

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