Page 52 - Sotheby's Indian Himalayan and Southeast Asian Wroks of Art March 2019

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PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE CANADIAN COLLECTOR PROVENANCE jewelry embedded with precious stones, and the
A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF Gifted by Dudjom Rinpoche, 1971. delicacy of how the hands and feet are rendered
AMITAYUS This large and magnificent cast gilt figure with effortless pliability, convey the composure
of timeless beauty while also highlighting the
Tibet, 15th/16th Century of Amitayus, the Buddha of Infinite Life, is suppleness of the flesh.
associated with the rites of ensuring long-life.
seated in vajrasana on a multi-petal double lotus Amitayus was popular in the Tibetan pantheon The present sculpture was gifted to its current
base articulated with a beaded edge, his hands of deities, representing one of three long-life owner Mr. James George by Dudjom Rinpoche,
held in dhyana mudra, clad in a dhoti with an deities. As a worldly manifestation of the Buddha Jikdral Yeshe Dorje (1904-1987), in 1971. A well-
incised hem, decorated at ankles, wrists and Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, Amitayus, known scholar, yogin, meditation master as well
upper arms with jeweled bangles, layered in is represented in the form of the bodhisattva- as the appointed Supreme Head of the Nyingma
necklaces and rounded earrings resting on his heavily clad in jewelry with silk attire and wearing School of Tibetan Buddhism by His Holiness
shoulders with precious stones, with a serene and a jeweled diadem. The bodhisattva is typically the Dalai Lama, Dudjom Rinpoche traveled and
composed expression framed by an ornamented represented holding a kalasha, a ritual vase which taught extensively. He gave teachings in Tibet,
five-pointed diadem crowning his head is perpetually full of the ‘nectar of immortality’, India and Nepal and later in his life in the West,
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 13635. although in this instance, his ornamented including the United States, United Kingdom and
France.
Height 14⅜ in. (36.5 cm.) implement is now missing.
This gilt Amitayus is the epitome of its type, For Mr. George, the ownership of this image was
$ 200,000-300,000 showing near perfect casting and exceptional a means to practice spiritual teachings, which he
quality of form. There is a precision to the imbibed from some of the most renowned adepts
features, articulating a perfect balance of of his generation including His Holiness the
inward equanimity and outer presence. The soft Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Krishnamurti, Thomas
calligraphic curve of the eyebrows which extend Merton and Yogaswami. His personal life and
vertically through the bridge of the nose to its tip work were deeply influenced by these ideas.
whose subtlety contrasts with the rectangular To reference apparent Tibetan features, including
jeweled urna at the center of the forehead, all the square face and shoulders and of the same
give form and weight to the lowered eyelids. As period, see Von Schroeder Buddhist Sculpture in
the lids gently curve outwards, revealing half Tibet, Vol.II., 2001, 272C, pp. 1064-5. Compare
opened eyes, the upturned slightly smiling lips another sixteenth century gem-set gilt figure of
ease any sense of complete inward retraction. Amitayus, see Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan
The square face and shoulders, framed by ornate Bronzes, 1981, no. 117 F, pp. 438-9.

50 SOTHEBY’S INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN WORKS OF ART