A RARE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF MARICHI MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGLE

the eight–armed goddess with three faces, two with benign expressions and the third with a wrathful gaze, each with a third eye on the forehead, bearing a domed and jewelled helmet with long blue painted hair protruding below and falling in tresses to the shoulders, holding ritual implements including avajra and a branch of the Ashoka tree in her principal hands, a needle and thread, suchi and sutra, in her upper left and right, the bow and arrow, capa and sara, in her middle left and right, and an elephant goad, ankusa, in her lower right, the goddess adorned with bodhisattva jewellery including crowns, earrings, beaded jewellery and a flowing scarf over her bare shoulders, a sumptuous lower garment loosely arranged over her legs, and seated in vajraparyankasana on a tiered lotus pedestal incised with a Yongle reign mark on the upper surface, with a cylindrical tang extending below sealed with a copper plate engraved with a visvavajra

The deity is in very good overall condition. The lower left hand is missing its implement, but the other 7 arms all have their original implements. The arrow in the middle right hand is bent. The elephant goad, ankusa, in the lower right hand is also bent. The gilding is in good condition with only a small amount of wear. The base plate of the tang has been opened, contents removed and resealed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Marichi, the goddess of light, holds the promise of dawn from dark night. As with her Hindu counterpart Surya, her arsenal includes a bow and an arrow that is fired to dispel darkness. Her attributes include a needle and thread, held here in her uppermost hands, symbolising the union of method and wisdom in Buddhist philosophy, and used to sew up the eyelids and mouths of evil spirits and bind their limbs. The Ashoka branch that she holds before her is the emblem of the goddess Khadiravani Tara and confirms Marichi's role, together with Ekajata, as attendant to the "Tara of the Acacia Forest". The vajra sceptre symbolises the diamond path to Buddhist enlightenment and the elephant goad alludes to the power of the goddess to steer a practitioner on the path. The tang below the lotus would have probably located into the back of a caparisoned sow, her familiar vehicle, in the manner of another Yongle Marichi with very similar iconography now in the Potala Palace Collection, Lhasa; Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Hong Kong, 2001, vol. II, pl. 357B.

Although the style of this bronze is Tibeto-Chinese Marichi is rarely portrayed in Tibetan art. However, she is quite commonly represented in Chinese sculpture and painting, confirming her considerable popularity in China. Here her cult was known from at least the eighth century when The Divine Being Marichi Sutra was translated into Chinese, see Marsha Weidner, ed, Latter Days of the Law, Kansas, 1994, p. 410. The Northern Song (960-1127) imperial collection is said to have included paintings of the goddess by such masters as Lu Tanwei, Zhang Sengyou, Lu Lengjia and Cao Chongxuan. The three-faced and eight-armed iconography depicted in this Yongle gilt bronze is described in the Marichi Bodhisattva Sutra translated during the Song Dynasty. Albeit in different iconographic guises the goddess is still well represented in Chinese sculpture and painting through the eighteenth century, affirming her enduring popularity. Marichi is regarded as wealth bestowing and as a personal protector, some saying that she gains advantage over evil forces by being hard to spot as she appears out of the sun. The Divine Being Marichi Sutra promotes Marichi's powers of protection while travelling, and from robbers, fire, flood, armies, ghosts, poison, wild animals, and poisonous insects.

This rare and exquisite little bronze highlights the particular choices made in the iconographical program of the Yongle court in the production of works in this Tibeto-Chinese style. The vast Tibetan Vajrayana pantheon is distilled into a select group of deities that include those already familiar to Chinese culture such as Marichi, as well as more unfamiliar deities such as the Yidams that were important to the Tibetan hierarchs who had influence at court. This statue combines the very best qualities of the court artists with such delightful sculptural finesse and idiosyncratic expression, each face a study in compassion, gentleness or wrath, and all enhanced by a rich and mellow gilding with the finest of patinas.