Page 24 - Bonhams Indian and Himalayan Art September 2013
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A gilt copper alloy figure of Akshobhya A gilt copper alloy figure of Saravid Vairochana A gilt copper alloy figure of Padmapani
Qing dynasty, 18th century Qing dynasty, 18th century Tibeto-Chinese, 17th/18th century
Seated on lotus throne with his hands in Seated in padmasana above a lotus throne wearing Inset with semi-precious stones; with right hand
bhumisparsha mudra, abundantly adorned with a dhoti with patterned hems, his hands resting in in vitarka mudra holding the flowering utapala
jewelry of inset stones, large earrings and a dhyana mudra, his neck, chest, and arms richly stem at his right shoulder, the left clutching the
five-leafed crown, his shoulders covered with adorned, the shoulders covered by an undulating swirling ribbon scarf at the hip.
an undulating scarf and swirling tresses, his hair scarf and swirling tresses, his four heads with 10 1/8 in. (25.8 cm) high
arranged in a two-tiered chignon surmounted serene expressions, painted eyes and lips, large $20,000 - 30,000
by a flaming jewel (cintamani). earrings and five-leafed crowns, his hair covered in
7 in. (17.8 cm) high blue pigment and arranged in a two-tiered chignon The facial type and sumptuous treatment
$8,000 - 12,000 surmounted by a flaming jewel (cintamani). of the jewelry are consistent with casting in
7 in. (17.8 cm) high China in the 17th and 18th centuries. The
Pieces of similar style and period were sold at $15,000 - 20,000 treatment of the lotus platform and incised
Bonhams, New York, 18 March 2013, lot 159, design at the back are also hallmarks of this
at Christie’s, South Kensington, 7 November Saravid Maha Vairochana is the patriarch of all period. A closely related example with similar
2012, lot 706, and at Sotheby’s, London, 9 the families of Great Vairochana. A statue of crown and identical treatment of the flower
October 1967, lot 102. Also compare to a the root deity is installed at the center of the see is published in Gordon, The Iconography
bronze published in von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan famed Tabo monastery complex in Spiti Valley of Tibetan Lamaism, New York, 1972, p. 64.
Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, no. 153b. (see Klimburg-Salter (ed.), Tabo, a Lamp for the Also compare with a larger figure of Maitreya
Kingdom, Milan, 1997, fig. 61, p. 97). There in Rhie and Thurman, A Shrine for Tibet, New
‘the Omnipresent One’ sits at the center of a York, 2009, no. I-14, p. 76.
37-deity mandala from which everything stems,
spreading out from his germinal refulgence until Provenance:
finally becoming dim. For more examples in gilt Private New England Collection, acquired in 1970s
copper alloy, see the Huntington Archive no.
0000066 & HAR#71851.
Pieces of similar style and period were sold at
Bonhams, New York, 18 March 2013, lot 159,
at Christie’s, South Kensington, 7 November
2012, lot 706, and at Sotheby’s, London, 9
October 1967, lot 102. Also compare to a
bronze published in von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan
Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, no. 153b.
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