Page 10 - 2020 December 2 Bonhams Arts of Devotion bronzes and Stone carvings

1004
A SILVER INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF PADMAPANI LOKESHVARA
SWAT VALLEY, 7TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61805
13 cm (5 1/8 in.) high
HKD1,500,000 - 2,000,000

斯瓦特 七世紀 銅錯銀蓮華手觀音像

This bronze’s details are crisp and well modeled. Avalokiteshvara’s crown is
complex with scrolling foliate ornaments over a patterned cap and triangular
crown leaves. Tresses cascade to his shoulders in three bands. The wide lotus is
so nourished that it weighs too heavily on its stem and rests on the Bodhisattva’s
shoulder. His lower garment has well-defined pleats. His torso is muscular and
supple, sumptuous like the lotus base’s swollen petals. This exquisite bronze
represents the triumphant sophistication of the Swat Valley style as it is about to
bear influence on the bronzes of Kashmir.

Situated along the lush upper banks of the Indus River in modern day northern
Pakistan, Swat Valley continued to thrive as a center for Buddhism after Hun
invasions had curtailed the religion in neighboring areas by the 6th century.
Gradually the distinctive Swat aesthetic melted into the style of adjoining Kashmir.
Thereafter the art of medieval Kashmir was seminal for the formation of early
Western Tibetan Buddhist art and beyond.

The fine facial features, for which this bronze excels, distinguish it from later
Kashmir types. Whereas the latter tend to have stuffed, somewhat bloated cheeks,
Swat faces have a more pleasing oval shape reminiscent of the Gupta style that
resulted from trade after the Gupta empire subjugated much of modern-day
Pakistan in the mid 4th century. For the same reason, his nose appears more
aquiline than broader Kashmir examples. The eyes are elegant and symmetrical,
whereas in Kashmir they can be unrestrained and abstracted. The nuanced portrait
of this Padmapani, with a slightly upturned chin, is emphatically noble.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a closely related example (2012.247). Two
other related figures of Vajradharma Lokeshvara and Hayagriva are published
in Kilmburg-Salter, Silk Route and the Diamond Path, Los Angles, 1982, p.100,
nos.19 & 20.

Provenance
Sotheby’s, London, 27 April 1995, lot 182
Private European Collection

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