Page 133 - 2019 September 11th Christie's New York Chiense Art Himalayan bronzes and art

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A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF TARA
NEPAL, 13TH-14TH CENTURY
5¿ in. (13 cm.) high

$25,000-35,000

PROVENANCE
Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, by 1965.
Private collection, Midwestern United States.
Christie’s New York, 13 September 2016, lot 201.
The old Newar greeting ‘Taremam’ which alludes
to taking refuge in the Buddhist goddess Tara
expresses the importance of this savioress to
the Vajrayana Buddhists of the Kathmandu
Valley from which this sculpture came. Nearly
all dedicated practitioners have memorized her
praises, as she is constantly propitiated for the
removal of obstacles. Moreover, she is the female
counterpart of the all-important bodhisattva,
Avalokiteshvara. Small, portable images of her
like the present have, thus, been ubiquitous for
centuries. This fnely cast example displays the
naturalistic physiognomy and precise stone inlay
mastered by the Newar artists of the Kathmandu
Valley during the early Malla period. For a very
similar image of her counterpart, Avalokiteshvara
see U. von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes,
Hong Kong, 1981, p. 345, 88G. Similar fgures of
Tara can be found in U. von Schroeder, Buddhist
Sculptures in Tibet: Vol. II: Tibet & China, Hong
Kong, 2001, p. 971.
Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 24545.

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