Page 64 - September 20th 2021, Indian and Himalayan Art Christie's NYC

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF HAROLD AND BARBARA MARKO
423
A LARGE AND RARE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE 中國 十八世紀 藏傳鎏金銅尊勝佛母坐像
OF USHNISHAVIJAYA
TIBETO-CHINESE, 18TH CENTURY 來源:
Louis Meyron Marko珍藏，底特律，不晚於1985年（傳）。
14Ω in. (36.8 cm.) high
$40,000-60,000
PROVENANCE:
Collection of Louis Meyron Marko, Detroit, by 1985, by repute.
LITERATURE:
Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 24680.

The three-faced, eight-armed Ushnishavijaya is a goddess of longevity
and is associated with the fulfillment of earthly desires. For this reason,
she is often invoked in old age ceremonies such as Bhimaratha (see lot
435). She has three faces with fierce, serene, and benign expressions,
said to carry the attributes of three goddesses. Here, she is seated in a
meditative pose with both legs folded and the soles of her feet visible.
Her six hands are held in various mudras, as she carries a vishvavajra, a
small figure of Amitabha, and a longevity vase.
While close diplomatic ties between Tibet and Ming Dynasty (1368-
1644) China had encouraged the exchange of motifs in the casting of
Buddhist images, a far greater Tibeto-Chinese artistic collaboration
was witnessed after the founding of the Qing Dynasty in the seventeeth
century. The Qing emperors relied heavily on the support of other foreign
ethnic groups within China, particularly Tibetans and Mongolians, for
their reign. The Kangxi Emperor (r.1661-1722) became an important
propagator of Tibetan Buddhism and founded important monasteries
with Mongolian and Tibetan workshops at Beijing, an endeavor and
tradition of artistic patronage that continued under the Yongzheng
(r.1722-1735) and Qianlong (r. 1735-1796) Emperors.
Ushnishavijaya and her iconography are entirely drawn from the Tibetan
pantheon; however, stylistic elements of the present lot closely associate
it with the Qing period of China, when Tibetan, Mongolian, and Chinese
art and culture were closely intertwined. Such elements include an
overall richly gilt surface, smooth contours of the waist and detailed
casting of the figure’s flowing robes, ribbons and sashes. Like most
works produced in China during this period, the back side of the lotus
base is left decorated; comparable Tibetan bronzes generally had bases
fully executed in the round.

Compare to a smaller figure of Ushnishavijaya in the State Hermitage
Collection, Leningrad, illustrated by M.M. Rhie and R.A.F. Thurman in
Wisdom and Compassion. The Sacred Art of Tibet, New York, 1991, no.
124. The two figures share similar modeling of the faces, robes, and
jeweled ornaments. The present lot, however, is of a superb size, with
few examples comparing in presence. (reverse)