Page 122 - Bonhams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art March 2019

901
A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF SHAKYAMUNI
NEPAL, KHASA MALLA KINGDOM, 13TH/14TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61907
10 1/4 in. (26 cm), height including tangs;
9 7/8 in. (25 cm), height excluding tangs

$80,000 - 120,000
尼泊爾 迦舍摩羅王朝 十三/十四世紀 銅鎏金釋迦摩尼坐像

The Khasa Malla Kingdom ruled the Karnali Basin in Western Nepal and part of Western
Tibet between the 12th and 14th centuries. The Khasa Malla rulers were devout
Buddhist patrons that appear to have developed a distinct stylistic identity in their artistic
commissions. Of impressive volume and quality, this extraordinary image of Shakyamuni
stems from the small corpus of sculpture and painting attributed to the Khasa Malla
Kingdom.

The art of Khasa Mallas took inspiration from its neighboring cultures and incorporated
stylistic elements from the Kathmandu Valley, Western Tibet, and Pala India. As the Khasa
Mallas had close contact with the Newars in Kathmandu, influences from the Valley prevail
others. The naturalistic and sensuous modeling of the present figure, for example, is one of
the hallmarks of the Newari style. Similarly, gilt bronzes from the Kathmandu Valley tend to
also show notable losses to the gilded surface, being thinly applied and frequently rubbed
during devotional practice.

However, as exhibited in the present work, many features are distinctly Khasa Malla.
Shakyamuni’s face, for example, is absent of the Newari broad forehead. His eyebrows are
high and slanting. He has a beak-shaped nose. His mouth is narrow with plump lips. And
his eyes have wavy lids that widen at the sides. Compare almost identical physiognomy on
a Khasa Malla Shadakshari published in Alsop, “The Metal Sculpture of the Khasa Malla
Kingdom”, in Orientations: Art of Tibet, Hong Kong, 1998, p.167, fig.9. With rounded,
double-lobed petals under a thick beaded upper rim, and a plain rear, the Shadakshari also
has a similar base.

The Khasa Mallas also distinguished their Buddhist sculptures with meticulous details, like
the present bronze’s defined knuckles and subtle toning around the shoulder muscles.
These characteristics are repeated on a larger gilt bronze of the same subject in the Rubin
Museum of Art, published in Vajracharya, Nepalese Seasons: Rain and Ritual, New York,
2016, p.72, no.17. Moreover, the Rubin Shakyamuni also shares similarly plump hands and
feet with the present bronze, and a double-layered ‘fishtail’ pleat over its left shoulder.

Provenance
Private Collection, Southern Germany

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