Page 116 - Bonhams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art March 2019

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A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF EYE-CLEARING A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF PADMAPANI
AVALOKITESHVARA WESTERN TIBET, 13TH CENTURY
TIBET, CIRCA 17TH CENTURY Himalayan Art Resources item no.61910
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61931 9 7/8 in. (25 cm) high
4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm) high
$50,000 - 80,000
$2,000 - 3,000
藏西 十三世紀 蓮華手菩薩銅像
西藏 約十七世紀 啟目觀音銅像
This exemplar of perfected enlightenment steps forward with a benign
This rare form of Avalokiteshvara depicts the Bodhisattva with four smile and making the gesture of reassurance with his right hand
arms, performing the “eye clearing” mudra while holding a vase and (abhaya mudra). A lotus scales the Bodhisattva’s left side and blooms
mirror. The Eye-Clearing Avalokiteshvara, originated in the Nyingma by his shoulder, turning inwards as if to whisper in his ear. Stylistically,
tradition, and possesses the power to remove the ignorance of all this sculpture belongs to group of 11th-13th century early bronzes
beings. A modern monumental sculpture of the deity is worshipped in produced in Western Tibet, inspired by even earlier Indian models,
Ganden Monastery, Ulaanbaatar. particularly from neighboring Kashmir. Other examples include an
Avalokiteshvara formerly in the Robert Hatfield Ellsworth Collection (see
Rhie & Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion, New York, 1996, pp.136-
7, no.28), a Manjushri sold at Sotheby’s, London, 11 October 1990, lot
34, and a 13th-century Avalokiteshvara published in Hall (ed.), Tibet:
Tradition and Change, Albuquerque, 1997, pp.90-1, no.45.

Provenance
Private Asian Collection, acquired in Hong Kong, 1990

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