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A COPPER ALLOY MAHAPARINIRVANA STUPA
TIBET, CIRCA 14TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.16912
12 1/8 in. (30.9 cm) high
$15,000 - 20,000

西藏 約十四世紀 大般涅槃銅佛塔

This bronze model stupa distinguishes itself from average examples
due to the precision of its casting, including the finely articulated lotus
petals around the base and below its spired parasol. The stupa also
survives in near-pristine condition with a buttery patina. Its shape was
popular among the Kadam and Kagyu orders of Tibetan Buddhism.
Examples of this scale can be seen on altar tables in front of monk-
donor figures in the bottom registers of 13th-/14th-century Tibetan
paintings (e.g. Kossak & Singer, Sacred Visions, New York, 1998,
pp.95 & 97, nos. 19-20). The interiors of these model stupas were
consecrated, either with the cremated remains of a spiritually-attained
hierarch, or with other contents blessed by a lama, making their
presence auspicious.

Compare a closely related, larger example published in Hall (ed.), Tibet:
Tradition and Change, Albuquerque, 1997, pp.158-9, pl.79b. Also see
Czaja & Proser (eds.), Golden Visions of Densatil, New York, 2014,
pp.172-3, no.45; and Sotheby’s, New York, 20 March 2001, lot 149.

Provenance
Michael Cohn Asian Art, New York, 3 February 2001
Private West Coast Collection

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