Page 116 - Bonhams IMages of Devotion, Hong Kong Nov 30 2022

1043
A GILT COPPER ALLOY REPOUSSÉ FIGURE OF
MANJUSHRI NAMASANGITI
NEPAL, CIRCA 16TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4710
25.4 cm (10 in.) high
HKD150,000 - 250,000
尼泊爾 約十六世紀 銅鎏金錘揲四臂文殊像

This princely image of Manjushri exemplifies the unsurpassed skill of Newari
craftsmen working in repoussé. The Bodhisattva of Wisdom is portrayed as
a nimble youth, modelled with graceful movement. This multi-armed form of
Manjushri, known as Namasangiti, is one of the most important Buddhist deities
in the Kathmandu Valley, where he is considered a spiritual progenitor of the entire
Buddhist cosmos. As described in an 8th-century text, the sutra in the primary
right hand would have been joined by a sword, bow, and arrow in the other hands.

Hallmarks of the lauded Newari aesthetic displayed by the present bronze include
its supple, sensuous figural contours and crisp, luxurious regalia. Plump lotus
roundels centered by inset semi-precious gemstones adorn the arms and crown.
Teardrop cabochons surround the neck, resembling a petaled collar. Those also
set into the waistbelt provide a means for approximating the dating of this bronze,
the arrangement being almost identical to a Dancing Goddess attributed by Alsop
to the 15th century (Alsop, ‘’Repoussé in Nepal’’, Orientations, July 1986, vol. 17,
No. 7, p. 22, fig. 10). But the greater profusion of inset stones betrays a later date
of production, in keeping with a figure of Syamatara in the Asian Art Museum, San
Francisco (von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, fig. 102C,
p. 380) and a superlative repoussé Bodhisattva sold by Bonhams, New York, 14
March 2016, lot 25.

Published
Nancy Tingley, Celestial Realms: The Art of Nepal from California Collections,
Sacramento, 2012, p. 56, no. 9C.

Exhibited
Celestial Realms: The Art of Nepal, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California,
10 October 2012 - 10 February 2013.

Provenance
Private California Collection, acquired in California in the 1980s

114 | BONHAMS