Page 14 - Bonhams Indian and Himalayan Art September 2013

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A gilt copper alloy figure of Akshobhya
Nepal or Tibet, 14th century
Cast wearing a diaphanous robe over his powerful frame gathering in elegantly pleated folds over
his left shoulder and with a prominent beaded and incised foliate hemline, seated in vajrasana with
his hands in bhumisparsa mudra, and adorned with a simple five-petal crown with pleated cloth
ties falling behind his pendulous earlobes to his shoulders, his face defined by a curved nose and
narrow eyes, the copper base plate with an embossed visvavajra.
10 1/2 in. (26.7 cm) high
$100,000 - 150,000
The crown type, hemline, narrow eyes, and thick brows converging to a small nose are elements
common to Khasa Malla and Western Tibetan regions. The absence of the defined knuckles on the
hands, a common convention of the Khasa Malla, point to Tibetan attribution for this sculpture, but
the influence of the style is clearly evident.
As noted by Alsop “The Khasa kingdom provided an entry for this subsidiary Newar style into the
art of Western Tibet, for the Khasa dominions contained many important monasteries that must
have been a rich source of patronage for migrating artists and their successors. When the Khasa’s
control of their territories waned it is likely that the sculptors who served them in fashioning
Buddhist images migrated towards the Tibetan Buddhist regions, just as the sculptors of earlier
generations usually ended up in Tibet” (see Alsop in Singer and Denwood, Tibetan Art, London,
1997, p. 75)
For a related example, see von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, 94C, p. 357.
Also compare with an Akshobhya sold by Koller, Zurich, 30 October 2012, lot 110 and a Buddha
sold by Christie’s, New York, 19 March 2013, lot 342.
Provenance:
Private Canadian Collection
Acquired by the owner’s parents while based in Malaysia between 1968-1975

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