A COPPER ALLOY PLAQUE OF BUDDHA LADAKH OR TIBET, 11TH – 12TH CENTURY

seated in vajraparyankasana on a raised pedestal, the right hand held in bhumisparsamudra and the left in dhyanamudra, all within a stupa flanked by engraved foliate scrolls below a pair of birds

In this rare early plaque, originating either in the western region of Ladakh or Tibet, the depiction of the Buddha seated in vajraparyankasana on a lotus throne is moulded with a stupa. Intricately incised lines are skilfully utilised to denote the finer features of the face and robes.

For another rare early plaque of similar form and iconography, see Helmut Uhlig, On the Path to Enlightenment, The Berti Aschmann Foundation of Tibetan Art at the Museum Rietberg Zurich, Zurich, 1995, p. 41, no 3, catalogued as being from Ladakh. Compare also a closely related example in the collection of the Jokhang, Lhasa, illustrated in Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol. II, Tibet and China, Hong Kong, 2001, p. 1137, pl. 295C.