Page 40 - Bonhams, Images of Devotion, April 21 2021

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A SILVER INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF KHASAPARNA LOKESHVARA
NORTHEASTERN INDIA, PALA PERIOD, 11TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.16976
10 cm (3 7/8 in.) high

HKD1,200,000 - 1,800,000

印度東北部 帕拉時期 十一世紀 銅錯銀靜息觀音像

Silver inlay amplifies the gaze of this small, charismatic bronze of Khasaparna
Lokeshvara. Khasaparna (lit. ‘sky flyer) is a form of Avalokiteshvara, the Great
Bodhisattva of Compassion. He extends his right hand in the gesture of charity
(varada mudra), offering help towards enlightened salvation to even the most bereft
incarnations, those of hungry ghosts. In his left hand he holds a prominent lotus, a
symbol for any being’s ability to realize their innate buddhahood, that curls upward
along his arm. Masterfully cast in the round, the bronze retains a desirable, smooth
patina from centuries of worship as a treasured personal icon.

Modeled with naturalism, the sensuous figure is emblematic of Indian bronze
sculpture produced in the late Pala period. Compared to earlier works, bronze
figures from around the 11th century are generally afforded a more slender body
type, as seen in the present example. The tall double-lotus base with oversized
beads on the lower rim is also characteristic of the period, shared by a diminutive
Pala Avalokiteshvara in the Victoria and Albert Museum (IS.123-1965), another in
the Tibet Museum (Alain Bordier Foundation) in Gruyères (ABS290), and a third
formerly in the Nalin Collection (Casey, Medieval Sculpture from Eastern India,
1985, no.40).

The present bronze compares favorably to another Pala figure of Khasaparna
Lokeshvara, of almost identical size and posture but less refined detail, formerly
in the collection of Robert H. Ellsworth (Christie’s, New York, 11 September 2019,
lot 326). Also see a closely related figure of Maitreya published in von Schroeder,
Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p.283, fig.69D.

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