Page 188 - Important Chinese Art Hong Kong April 2, 2019 Sotheby's

The artists working in the imperial workshops during the with at least ten imperial gilt-bronze examples remaining in
Yongle period remain anonymous, but their sculptures have published collections, including one formerly in the Usher
now become recognised as among the most important P. Coolidge Collection, see Heather Karmay, op.cit. , p. 88,
works of art from the Buddhist world, characterised by pl. 56; one in the Art Institute of Chicago, see Ulrich von
faultless casting and rich gilding. Some fifty-four gilt bronzes Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p. 517,
bearing the inscription Da Ming Yongle nian shi (bestowed pl. 144D; one in the Chang Foundation, see James Spencer,
in the Yongle era of the great Ming) have been documented Buddhist Images in Gilt Metal, Taipei, 1993, p. 111, pl. 48; two
in Tibetan monastery collections, see Ulrich von Schroeder, in the Berti Aschmann Foundation at the Rietberg Museum,
Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Hong Kong, 2001, vol. II, pp. see Helmut Uhlig, On the Path to Enlightenment, Zurich,
1237-1291. These works have survived in Tibet largely due 1995, pp. 146-148, nos 92-93; two in Tibetan monastery
to imperial patronage lavished on Tibetan hierarchs and collections, see Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculpture in
monasteries during the reign of Zhu Di, who pursued a Tibet, op. cit., pp. 1276-8, pls 356C-356F; one in the Palace
bountiful relationship with Tibetan religious leaders during Museum, Beijing, Splendours from the Yongle (1403-1424)
his reign as Yongle (Perpetual Happiness) Emperor. and Xuande (1426-1435) Reigns of China’s Ming Dynasty,
Beijing, 2010, p. 247, pl. 120; and the Speelman Tara, see
The stylistic origin of Yongle gilt bronzes can be traced one in these rooms, 7th October 2006, lot 806. For recently
to the Yuan dynasty, when the court espoused Tibetan sold examples at auction, see the Tara from the Tamashige
Buddhism. Early fourteenth century woodblocks made for Tibet collection, included in the exhibition The World of
the monastery of Yangshen Yuan, Hangzhou, are evidence
of a new style appearing in Chinese Buddhist art, see Mandala – Tamashige Tibet Collection, Okura Museum of
Art, Tokyo, 2005, and sold in our New York rooms, 19th
Heather Karmay, Early Sino-Tibetan Art, Warminster, 1975, March 2014, lot 86.
pp. 47-50, pls 26, 29 and 30. The gently smiling faces, full
rounded figures and tiered thrones in these woodblock prints As testimony to the variety and originality found in Yongle
reflect the Newar styles favoured in Tibet, and introduced sculpture, many of these bronze figures of Tara are markedly
into China by Nepalese artists such as Aniko. Indeed these different from one another while remaining faithful to
illustrations could almost have been used as templates for standard stylistic requirements of the Yongle ateliers. Some
Yongle bronzes such as the Speelman enthroned Buddha, are willowy and ethereal in appearance like the present
see Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 7th October 2006, lot 808, and example, which is stylistically similar to the Speelman Tara
the similar example in the British Museum, see Wladimir and the Tara in the Palace Museum, Beijing; the larger of the
Zwalf, Buddhism, Art and Faith, London, 1985, cat. no. 305, two in the Aschmann collection is more austere, while the
frontispiece. Tara formerly in the Coolidge collection has a charmingly
rounded figure. All however are finished and gilded to
Tara, Mother of the Victorious Ones, is worshipped by perfection, all with the Yongle hallmark style of jewellery and
Buddhists as a saviour and liberator from samsara, the
earthly realm of birth and rebirth. In Tibetan mythology the lotus pedestal. The current Tara is imbued with a lightness
and delicacy as befits the sensuous and youthful female
goddess is believed to have emerged from a lotus bud rising form of the goddess. Her hands are held in gentle and
from a lake of tears shed for the suffering of sentient beings expressive gestures of charity and reassurance. And the
by the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, with a face “embodying
the delicacy of a million lotus blossoms”, see Glenn Mullin, compassion that Tara is said to have for all sentient beings
Mystical Verses of a Dalai Lama, New Delhi, 2003, p. 57. As is expressed in the sublime countenance of this exquisite
Yongle bronze.
in Tibet, the cult of Tara was popular at the Yongle court,

186 SOTHEBY ’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART