Page 27 - Bonhams Indian and Himalayan Art March 2016 New York

Two Early Nepalese
Buddhist Sculptures
from a Private Collection

Essay by Jane Casey, January 2016
These two Licchavi period (c. 400-876 CE) statues are among the
earliest surviving examples of copper alloy sculpture from Nepal.
It is unclear whether the Licchavis were an indigenous Nepalese
clan or recent conquerors from India, but Licchavi culture was
unquestionably aligned with India. All Licchavi period inscriptions are
in the classical language of India—Sanskrit—in a script that closely
resembles Indian Gupta (c. 320-600) epigraphy.1 Licchavi sculpture
likewise closely follows the sculptural traditions of Gupta period India.
This is evident in the first firmly dated copper sculpture from Nepal,
a standing figure of the Buddha now in the Cleveland Museum of Art
(acc. #1968.40).2
The Cleveland Buddha so closely resembles contemporary works
from north India that experts once debated whether the sculpture was
made in Nepal or India.3 Mary Slusser, however, was able to establish
that the inscription on the base refers to a dedication by a nun from
Yamgval monastery in Laditagrama [Patan, Nepal] in a year that
corresponds to 591 CE.4
It would be difficult to imagine a more exalted genesis for the Newar
metal craftsmen of Nepal. Perfected around the last quarter of the 5th
century at major centers like Sarnath, Mathura, and Bodhgaya, the
Gupta Buddha rendered the human form according to principles of
proportion and ideals of beauty that came to define Indian classical
norms and influenced much of South and Southeast Asian art.5

INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 25