A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF TARA QING DYNASTY, 17th/18TH CENTURY

seated in lalitasana on a double-lotus base, the right hand held in varadamudra and the left raised to the chest in vitarkamudra, the uptala lotuses missing, wearing a dhoti and a loose shawl over the shoulder, adorned with bejewelled necklaces around the waist and the chest, the face with a benevolent expression, crowned with a five-leaf tiara in front of a high chignon

This sculpture has a lightness and delicacy as befits the youthful female manifestation of Tara, known as Syamatara or Green Tara. Her hands are held in the gentle and the expressive gestures of charity and reassurance, while the leg inclined over the side makes her appear alert. Tara is the female companion of Avalokitesvara, bodhisattva of compassion, and is worshipped as a miraculous saviour and liberator of samsara, the earthly realm of birth and rebirth.

The cult of Tara was popular during the Ming and Qing dynasties, when numerous gilt-bronze sculptures of the deity were made. These include one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Buddhist Statues of Tibet, Hong Kong, 2003, pl. 230, together with two sculptures of White Tara, pls 231 and 247; a gilt-brass Green Tara from the George Crofts collection and now in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, included in the exhibition Wisdom and Compassion. The Sacred Art of Tibet, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1992, cat. no. 25; and two gilt-bronze examples of White Tara included in the exhibition Buddhist Art from Rehol, The Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1999, cat. no. 63.