Page 6 - Bonhams Chinese and Himalayan Paintings June 2016

8001
A LARGE GILT-METAL FILIGREE AND
INSET STONE VOTIVE PLAQUE TO VISHNU
Nepal, 19th century
Set with semi-precious stones including turquoise, rubies and
sapphires on a gilt background.
22 3/4 x 19 1/4in (57.9 x 49cm)

$3,000 - 5,000

尼泊爾 十九世紀 鎏金掐絲鑲雜寶毗濕奴像飾板

This votive plaque would have been made for an early modern Published
domestic shrine. Its glorious arrangement of intricate gilt filigree Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 28 March 1975
and copious semi-precious stones positions Vishnu aboard Garuda
at the center flanked by conch-bearing naginis and apsaras by a Exhibited
parasol above. The Treasure Room, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, 1974

Breathtakingly lavish, it not only confers the enduring, multivalent Provenance
mastery of Nepali craftsmanship in filigree, repoussé, stone-cutting, Private Pennsylania collection since 1936
stone-polishing, and inlay, but also stands as a concluding example for Thence by descent to the current owner
the practice of expressing love through adorning and beautifying the
deity’s body.

Compare a plaque of Avalokiteshvara from the Avery Brundage
Collection held in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (acc.
#B60S80). The almost identical size, composition, and choice of inset
stones indicates the present lot is from the same workshop.

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