Page 26 - 2021 March 16th Indian, Himalayan and Tibetan Art, Bonhams NYC New York

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A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF LOKESHVARA PADMAPANI
NEPAL, 13TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.16915
9 3/8 in. (23.1 cm) high
$100,000 - 150,000

尼泊爾 十三世紀 銅鎏金蓮華手觀音像

Avalokiteshvara, ‘The Lord who Looks upon the World’, offers a calm, benevolent gaze as his
right hand adopts the gesture of granting wishes (varada mudra). The lotus at his left shoulder
symbolizes every being’s potential to achieve enlightenment despite their past flaws—just as the
flower rises from murky waters. Avalokiteshvara is an enlightened being who eons ago pledged to
postpone his departure from the cycle of death and rebirth, with all its inherent suffering, until he
has helped every other sentient being escape it first. Thus, he is a paradigm of compassion that
Mahayana Buddhist practitioners aspire to emulate.

Produced on a more intimate scale, this sculpture depicting Avalokiteshvara is a quintessential
Newari standing bodhisattva, one of Himalayan art’s signature icons. The Newars are an ethnic
group from Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley who have been transmitting their artistic expertise across
generations and are renowned for being among the most accomplished artisans in Asia. Newars
were frequently sought after for major artistic projects in Tibet, Mongolia, and China. There is
perhaps no better hallmark of the grace and sensitivity with which the Newars cast Buddhist
sculptures than their classic representation of the young and lithe standing bodhisattva, seen in
this example from the 13th century. The leitmotif of the standing bodhisattva in a graceful pose,
with a bare torso, supple waist, and sheer lower garment, traces back to the Gupta period
(4th-6th century), India’s cultural Golden Age. A famed standing Padmapani from Sarnath in
the National Museum in New Delhi exemplifies this visual idiom, which the Newars perpetuated
(cf. Across the Silk Road, Beijing, 2016, pp.160-1, no.70).

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