Mark Rasmussen
International Director
Lot 610
A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF MANJUSHRI TIBET, 13TH/14TH CENTURY
23 September 2020, 15:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$40,075 inc. premium
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A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF MANJUSHRI
TIBET, 13TH/14TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.68442
2 1/2 in. (6.3 cm) high
Himalayan Art Resources item no.68442
2 1/2 in. (6.3 cm) high
Footnotes
西藏 十三/十四世紀 銅鎏金文殊菩薩像
Of miniature stature, this figure of Manjushri is superbly modeled and detailed. The Bodhisattva of Transcendental Wisdom has a robust, young body sumptuously adorned with turquoise-inset regalia. The floral patterns incised on his lower garment are redolent of the sizable lotus flowering with a sutra by his left shoulder.
Consecrated in the Tibetan manner, this bronze was likely commissioned by a Tibetan patron. However, the deity's broad forehead, sensuous body, and the application of black and red pigments at the back indicate the involvement of a Newari artist. See a slightly larger figure of Manjushri sold at Bonhams, New York, 13 March 2017, lot 3069, and a related figure of Vajrasattva sold at Sotheby's, London, 23 July 1984, lot 35.
Published
David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, fig.44, p.72.
F. Ricca, Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell' Himalaya, Turin, 2004, fig.IV.41.
K. Debreczeny, "Wutai Shan: Pilgrimage to Five-Peak Mountain", in Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, Issue 6 (December 2011), cat.24.
Exhibited
The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 6 October – 30 December 1999.
Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell' Himalaya, Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin, June – September 2004.
Wutaishan: Pilgrimage to Five Peak Mountain, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 10 May – 16 October 2007.
Casting the Divine: Sculptures of the Nyingjei Lam Collection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2 March 2012 – 11 February 2013.
Provenance
The Nyingjei Lam Collection
On loan to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1996 – 2005
On loan to the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2005 – 2019