Page 50 - Bonhams Indian and Himalayan Art March 2016 New York

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A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF SYAMATARA
Tibet, 14th century
Seated on a wide lotus platform, with a pair of flowers flanking the shoulders, her dhoti
defined by radial raised ridges and the sash across her torso with stippled foliate designs.
10 3/4 in (27 cm) high
$80,000 - 120,000
西藏 十四世紀 銅鎏金綠度母像
Syamatara, also known as Green Tara, is venerated as a liberator from samsara, the chain of
birth and rebirth in the illusory material realm. According to myth, she emerged from the tears
of Avalokiteshvara as he wept for the suffering of all sentient beings. It is a testament to the
supreme compassion and agency she embodies. As such she is depicted with her right leg
outstretched, ready to respond to one’s suffering, and her right hand in the gesture of charity.
She is represented here as an elegant and slender goddess, superbly cast with long
graceful fingers and finely chased details across her robes and inset turquoise jewelry.
Her crown supports a double strand of pearls that loops across her forehead.
The treatment of the base’s lotus petals are consistent with a style favored by the craftsmen of
the Khasa Malla kingdom in the 14th century, as in the Dakini held in The Los Angeles County
Museum of Art (M85.221), and published in Casey Singer & Denwood, Toward a Definition of
Style, p. 74, no. 52. Also compare the base of a 14th century figure of Ushnishavijaya in the
Museum Rietberg (Uhlig, On the Path to Enlightenment, p. 153, p. 98). Compare the facial type
and neck with a figure of Manjushri sold at Bonhams, New York, 16 March 2015, lot 14.
Referenced
HAR - himalayanart.org/items/61421
Provenance
Christie’s, London, 19 February 1980, lot 61
Important French Collection 1980-present

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