Page 117 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Tantra Buddhost Art
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The Prince of Transcendent Wisdom
Originally gifted to the late Canadian Ambassador to India The prowess of the Newar artists of Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley
and Nepal, HE Chester A. Ronning by the King of Nepal, was internationally recognised. In 1260 the Mongol emperor
HM Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah during his years of service Khubilai Khan (1215-1294) commissioned a memorial stupa to
between 1954-1965, this magnificent figure of Manjushri Sakya Pandita (1182-1251) to be erected at Sakya monastery
encapsulates the greatest achievements of Nepalese in Tibet. Phagspa (1235-1280), the Sakya hierarch and
metalwork. Khubilai’s imperial preceptor, summoned a group of some
eighty of the best artists in Nepal to fulfil the charge. Aniko
This bold, powerful, solidly-cast gilt copper figure is a (1244-1306), the group’s leader, was a precocious talent as an
remarkable testament to the skill and craftsmanship of the architect, weaver, painter and sculptor, and so impressed his
Newar ateliers of the Kathmandu Valley. The bodhisattva sponsor that Phagspa recommended his talents to Khubilai.
demonstrates classical Newar style with its use of luxuriant Aniko was embraced by the emperor and rapidly elevated to
gilding and decorative stone and glass lozenge inlay, and prestigious posts. Amongst many honours he was appointed
exhibits many of the hallmarks of the derigueur Nepalese Supervisor-in-chief of All Classes of Artisans, and later
style with low hairline and broad forehead; wide almond- Minister of Education in charge of the Imperial Manufactories
shaped eyes; the elegant facial profile with curved nose; Commission, responsible for the court’s supply of precious
the rectangular turquoise-inlaid urna; powerful shoulders; materials such as gold, pearls and rhinoceros horn. Official
dynamic movement and posture; and elaborate beaded documents of the Mongol dynasty record Aniko’s biography,
jewellery and tassels. Due to the liberal use of turquoise, and describe monuments, Buddhist sculpture, painting
as well as the remnants of blue polychromy in the hair, it is and textiles made to his design, see Karmay (Stoddard),
probable that this figure was commissioned for a Tibetan Early Sino-Tibetan Art, Warminster, 1975, pp. 21-24. He was
patron. awarded great wealth and status at court.
Compare the pattern and movement of the cascading tendrils; Aniko’s arrival at the Mongol court with twenty-four fellow
turquoise-inlaid necklace; the girdle with copper and inlaid Newars established a Nepalese presence in the Chinese
glass lozenges, secured with flowing sash; and the delicately imperial workshops that would last for centuries. They
articulated and splayed toes with another Newar fourteenth brought an invaluable familiarity with Himalayan Buddhist
century gilt copper figure depicting Manjushri, also probably iconography when Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism became the
made for the Tibetan market, see Helmut Uhlig, On the Path state religion of the Yuan dynasty, and a renowned ability
to Enlightenment: The Berti Aschmann Foundation of Tibetan to adapt to the artistic traditions of a sponsor. Yuan period
Art at the Museum Rietberg, Zurich, 1995, p. 113, cat. no. 64 Chinese works of art that reveal Nepalese influence include
(fig. 1). Compare also the stone-inlay design and scrolling a statue of a bodhisattva in the Freer Gallery that is a done
motif in the triple-leaf crown, as well as the glass-inlaid jewel in the uniquely Chinese medium of dry lacquer, but with
finial with another fourteenth century gilt copper figure of pronounced Newar style in the sculptural detail, ibid., p. 22,
Avalokiteshvara in the Rubin Museum of Art, see acc. no. pl. 11. An imperial Vajrabhairava mandala in kesi, a favoured
C2005.16.8.
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