Page 32 - September 20th 2021, Indian and Himalayan Art Christie's NYC
P. 32

A RARE AND IMPORTANT BRONZE
                                                     FIGURE OF LUIPA






                  This finely-cast and important bronze is likely to belong to a larger set   and the Krishnacharya bronzes) or a single beaded pendant (in the
                  of bronzes depicting the Chakrasamvara lineage of the Sakya tradition   case of the Jalandhara and Luipa). The necklace on each figure
                  of the Ngor Ewam monastery. The entire set was once contained within   consists of the eight rectangular bone ornaments of a Heruka deity,
                  Ngor monastery, but was partially dispersed in the twentieth century.   joined by a double strand of beads. At the waist, the short dhoti is
                  Bronzes from the set are distinguished by the treatment of the jewelry,   secured with an elaborate knot, particularly in the standing image of
                  facial features, and the double-lotus base, as well as the consistent   Jalandhara, where it billows down from his waist, but is also elegantly
                  location  of  dedicatory  inscriptions,  and  the  group  has  been  dated  by   knotted in the images of Shavaripa and the present image of Luipa.
                  U. von Schroeder in his discussion of the group in Buddhist Sculptures
                  in Tibet, vol. II, Hong Kong, 2001, p. 1206, to the late fifteenth or early   Certain characteristics of the face are found across all five images,
                  sixteenth century. Four other bronzes from the set are held in Western   adding a sense of coherence across the entire group. The mouth is
                  collections: a bronze figure of Vijayapada in the Frey Collection in   typically held open in a slight smile, the tongue raised as if in speech
                  Zurich, illustrated by R. Linrothe in Holy Madness: Portraits of Tantric   and the teeth delineated, and in the case of the Jalandhara and
                  Siddhas, New York, 2006, p. 339, cat. no. 70; an image of Shavaripa   Shavaripa, picked out in white polychromy. The heavily-lidded eyes
                  in the Katimari Collection, illustrated on Himalayan Art Resources   are depicted with an expressive gaze, the pupils incised and the sclera
                  (item no. 59531); a bronze figure of Krishnacharya in the collection   again indicated with white polychromy – remaining in this case on the
                  of the Museum der Kulturen in Basel (acc. no. #W.lld13999.R0089),   present work. The images of Luipa, Krishnacharya, Jalandhara and
                  illustrated on Himalayan Art Resources (item no. 3313999) and by U.   Shavaripa are cast with a short, triangular beard which juts out below
                  von Schroeder in Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, pp. 480-481,   the chin, and which is incised with vertical lines delineating the hair.
                  pl. 134E; and a bronze figure of Jalandhara in the collection of the Rubin
                  Museum of Art (acc. no. C2003.13.4), illustrated as fig. 1. Luipa is the   The base of the four figures is composed of two rows of wide lotus
                  sixth lineage figure from the Ngor Ewam set, and as such would have   petals between beaded rims at top and bottom. In the case of the
                  come directly after the image of Shavaripa from the Katimari Collection.   Luipa, both beaded rims but particularly the top, have been worn
                  The whereabouts of nine bronzes from the lineage, including the image   to such a degree that they appear plain – however, close inspection
                  of Luipa, had previously been unaccounted for until the reappearance of   reveals they were once indeed beaded. Close inspection of the Luipa
                  this work to the market.                        also reveals a short inscription at the top of the base in front of Luipa’s
                                                                  proper right foot, as well as a longer inscription running alongside the
                  Each of the figures in the set is adorned with a beaded harness that is   lower edge of the base. Such inscriptions are typical of the lineage set,
                  joined at the center of the torso with a rhomboid shaped fitting, from   and can be in almost identical locations on all of the known bronzes
                  which hang either three beaded pendants (in the case of the Shavaripa   from the set.
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