Page 30 - Bonhams Presencer Buddhist Art Collection Oct. 2 2018

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A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA A GILT COPPER ALLOY HEAD OF BUDDHA
NORTHEASTERN INDIA, PALA PERIOD, 11TH/12TH CENTURY TIBET, 15TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61622 Himalayan Art Resources item no.61768
8.5 cm (3 1/4 in.) high 15.3 cm (6 in.) high

HK$150,000 - 250,000 HK$80,000 - 120,000

印度東北部 帕拉時期 十一/十二世紀 銅佛坐像 西藏 十五世紀 銅鎏金佛首

Buddhism thrived in Northeast India, where sacred sites associated Judging from its scale, weight, and quality, this glorious head
with key developments in Shakyamuni’s life generated a significant of Shakaymuni would have been part of a large and important
pilgrim economy for monasteries. After a period of instability following commission at a major monastery in Tibet. Its gilded surface and
the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the region gradually came under abstracted facial features stress the perfected wisdom of Buddha-
the rule of the Pala-Sena dynasty between 8th-12th centuries. This consciousness. Sensitively modeled, this beautiful head has a serene
delightful bronze from the Pala period shows the regional continuation and meditative countenance. The half-closed eyes gently look down,
of aesthetics developed in the Gupta period, depicting Shakyamuni while fleshy and outlined lips give out a faint smile. Raised between
with a close-fitting robe, cap-like hair, and evoked calm. A very similar Buddha’s eyebrows is a pronounced urna, an auspicious mark alluding
example in scale, facial type and treatment of the robe is in von to his enlightened mind. For the type see von Schroeder, Buddhist
Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p.289, no.72C. Bronzes in Tibet, Vol II, Hong Kong, 2001, p.1063, no.271D.

Provenance Provenance
Kate Kemper Collection, Zurich, 1969-73 Robert Barley, London

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