Page 10 - Bonhams IMages of Devotion, Hong Kong Nov 30 2022

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A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF PADMAPANI
NORTHEASTERN INDIA, PALA PERIOD, 12TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4736
12.5 cm (5 in.) high

HKD800,000 - 1,200,000
印度東北部 帕拉時期 十二世紀 蓮華手觀音銅像

This languorous depiction of Padmapani in the posture of royal ease originates
from Eastern India during the Pala period (8th-12th centuries). Characterized by
gentle curves and modelled limbs, the nimble form with the wrist resting on the
knee bears no tension. The ornamentation molds along the lines of the body in a
manner that balances the plasticity of the skin with the decorative details achieving
an overall simplicity that recalls the earliest Pala idioms from the 9th century. For
the most ubiquitous of deities represented during the Pala period, the deity of
infinite compassion in his peaceful manner framed between rising lotus flowers
portrays a gentle candor.

Buddhism flourished in Northeastern India during the Pala dynasty (8th-12th
century), and the golden age of artistic production which ensued set a precedent
for the depiction of Buddhist subjects in Nepal, Tibet, and China for centuries.
The languid and pliable form presented with a mannered naturalism, the flanking
lotus petals rising around the arms, and the wide lotus petals with large, beaded
rims along the base are idiomatic of the style, as seen in several other bronzes
including a Maitreya sold at Christie’s, New York, 14 March 2016, lot 287.

While the main trends of the Pala style are comparable, regional styles developed
their own individual features, and differences are evident when comparing a 12th-
century Maitreya from Fatephur (Huntington, The Art of Ancient India, New York,
1984, no. 18.20), whose flattened flanking blossoms of the lotus flowers contrast
the fuller flowers on this Padmapani. Relating more congruently with styles coming
from Kurkihar in the modelling of the figure, the design of the festooned necklace
and the heavy-lidded eyes, this Padmapani shows similarities with an earlier 10th-
century Simhananda Lokeshvara from the region (Ray, Eastern Indian Bronzes,
Bombay, 1986, pl. 176).

The traces of blue pigment in the hair and the cold gold on the face indicate that
this bronze likely made its way into Tibet, bearing the indications of preferred
stylistic choices of the region. It is the transportability of these bronzes that carried
the Pala art throughout Asia, impacting styles in Inner Asia, including another
Nepalese bronze which adopted elements of the posture and form, as seen in this
Maitreya (HAR 57205).

Provenance
Karen Beagle Collection, Hong Kong

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