Page 26 - Bonhams, Images of Devotion, April 21 2021

This elegant gilt bronze image of Tara is preserved in near-perfect condition, with
the original consecration plate on the base undisturbed. The bronze is thickly
gilded, richly adorned with inset semi-precious stones, and skilfully modelled with
rounded forms, in line with the 14th-century aesthetic of the famed monastery
of Densatil, in Central Tibet.

Close stylistic parallels can be drawn between the present work and a number
of gilt bronze sculptures produced for Densatil Monastery by Newari craftsmen;
Tara’s hair is neatly arranged into a fan-shaped chignon bound into five vertical
sections, each topped with a jewel. The same treatment appears on a renowned
Parnashavari in the collection of Ann and Gilbert H. Kinney, originally placed on
a tier dedicated to offering goddesses on a tashi gomang stupa at Densatil (see
Czaja & Poser, Golden Visions of Densatil, New York, 2014, pp.120-1, no.24).
This hairstyle is also sported by four offering goddesses on a Densatil plaque
published in von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p.431,
no.113G.

Her lower garment, decorated with rows of single and clustered jewels divided
by double raised lines (one beaded, the other smooth), is comparable to that of a
bronze Mahamantranusarini held in the Museum Rietberg (Uhlig, On the Path to
Enlightenment, Zurich, 1995, pp.162-3, no.107; identified as Ashtabhuja Tara).
The two also share the same broad bangles, large round earrings with inset stones,
and armbands with a five-jewelled triangular design secured by a beaded chain.
On the base, the plump lotus petals are modelled into a quasi-teardrop shape,
closely resembling those of a Densatil Akshobhya, also in the Museum Rietberg
(see Czaja & Poser, op. cit., pp.130-1, no.28).

When discussing this bronze, Weldon and Casey Singer have also examined the
many features indicating a Newari stylistic heritage and attributed it to 14th-century
south-central Tibet, a region associated with the Densatil style (Weldon & Singer,
The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet, London, 1999, pp.110-1, no.22).

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