Page 22 - Indian and Himalayan Art, March 15, 2017 Sotheby's NYC

213 This very ne and large-scale sculpture of Buddha Shakyamuni
is a testament to the powerful legacy of the Newari aesthetic
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE BERLIN COLLECTION imported into Tibet from the Kathmandu Valley in the medieval
period.
A LARGE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF
BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI Displaying tremendous power and presence, this gure
Tibet, 14th/15th Century demonstrates the marriage of classical Nepalese and Tibetan
sculptural elements in its luxuriant gilding, elegant beading and
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 13392. engraving, the cold gilding of the face and use of polychromy,
Height: 12 ¼ in. (31.5 cm) and delicate use of semi-precious stone inlay, as evidenced by
the now missing urna at forehead center.
PROVENANCE
Nikolaus Sonne Fine Arts, Berlin, 2 February 2002. This powerful and iconic bronze depicting Buddha Shakyamuni
in the earth-touching gesture or bhumisparsha mudra recalls
ᅮ$ 150,000-200,000 the moment of his Enlightenment, in which he called upon
the earth as his witness. The Nepalese in uence is strongly
demonstrated in the wide forehead with straight hairline, the
gilt and domed ushnisha, the urna with cavity for stone inlay,
the short neck, the broad and muscular shoulders with torso
narrowing to a de ned waist.

Compare the elegant hem, drape and twist of the Buddha’s
sanghati along the upper arm and body with left shoulder
exposed, with fourteenth century bronzes from the Nepalese
school in Tibet, see. U. von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in
Tibet, Vol. II, p. 962—3, gs. 231A and 231C.

20 SOTHEBY’S