A Gilt Copper Repoussé Figure Depicting Indra

Sotheby’s New York, December 1, 1993, lot 24

The present large-scale work likely depicts Indra, the king of the gods in Buddhist, Hindu and Jain mythology. Indra is seated in rajalilasana, the posture of royal ease, in regal attire, adorned with a magnificent crown and ornamented with jewels. His right hand is raised in vitarkamudra, the gesture of teaching, and it is probable that his lowered left hand would have held a lotus flower mounted with a vajra, or thunderbolt.

The ubiquitous parable of Indra’s net, a metaphor for the Buddhist principle of pratitya samutpada or co-dependent origination, derives from the seminal Mahayana Buddhist text, the Avatamsaka Sutra. The sutra describes a vast net stretched above Indra’s palace, adorned with radiant jewels at each intersection which infinitely reflect each another, expressing the interconnected and illusory nature of phenomena.

As Dr. Pratyapadita Pal notes, this representation of Indra seated in rajalilasana and displaying vitarkamudra is indigenously Nepalese and can be regarded as a local innovation. Compare the present work to a 16th century Nepalese prototype of this bodhisattva from the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, see P.Pal, Art of Nepal, Los Angeles, 1985, p. 119, pl. 50. Indra was often depicting in tandem with his consort, Indrani, see also Sotheby’s New York, December 1, 2003, lot 25 for this original pair, now separate.