- 3072
AN EXCEPTIONAL ZITAN HEAD OF PHAGPA LOKESHVARA 13TH CENTURY |
Estimate
2,000,000 - 3,000,000 HKD
bidding is closed
Description
- 26 cm, 10 1/4 in.
superbly carved and rendered adorned with a tall three-leaf crown with the central panel depicting a niche decorated with a standing effigy of Amitabha, the face of Phagpa Lokeshvara portrayed with a meditative expression, accentuated with a downcast gaze flanking a well defined nose, between thin arched brows and gently pursed lips, framed with heavy locks of hair spilling over the sides, traces of pigments and gilding, stand
Catalogue Note
This head of Phagpa Lokeśvara is outstanding for its pure elegance, dignified simplicity and serene facial expression. Deep in meditation, the face radiates enlightenment. The present image belongs to a select group of portrayals of Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva of Compassion, known in China as Guanyin and in Tibet as Phagpa Lokeśvara (‘Noble Lord of the World’). The representations display specific stylistic characteristics, including a tall three-lobed crown of simple design with an effigy of the bodhisattva in the central panel, a coiffure fashioned in tresses extending on either side of the headdress and a lack of jewellery except for a pair of big bell-shaped earrings; the bodhisattva with a naked torso and a transparent dhoti held in place with a belt, typically stands in a rigid pose with the right hand in varada mudrā (gesture of bestowal) and the left hand close to the hip above a sash slung low across the thighs.
As the models of this particular group consistently follow a distinctive iconography, it has been suggested that their inspiration was an earlier statue: “……all these figures must be patterned after a single ‘ancient type’……, or a single image rather than a type.”, see Ian Alsop ‘Phagpa Lokeśvara of the Potala’, Orientations, Hong Kong, April 1990, pp. 51-61, p. 56. The image Alsop refers to, has been identified by him as the Phagpa Lokeśvara housed in the Phagpa Lhakhang, the oldest and most sacred shrine of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet.
According to legend, the
This head of Phagpa Lokeśvara is outstanding for its pure elegance, dignified simplicity and serene facial expression. Deep in meditation, the face radiates enlightenment.
The present image belongs to a select group of portrayals of Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, known in China as Guanyin and in Tibet as Phagpa Lokeśvara (‘Noble Lord of the World’). The representations display specific stylistic characteristics, including a tall three-lobed crown of simple design with an effigy of the Bodhisattva in the central panel, a coiffure fashioned in tresses extending on either side of the headdress and a lack of jewellery except for a pair of big bell-shaped earrings; the Bodhisattva with a naked torso and a transparent dhoti held in place with a belt, typically stands in a rigid pose with the right hand in varada mudrā (gesture of bestowal) and the left hand close to the hip above a sash slung low across the thighs.
As the models of this particular group consistently follow a distinctive iconography, it has been suggested that their inspiration was an earlier statue: “……all these figures must be patterned after a single ‘ancient type’……, or a single image rather than a type.”, see Ian Alsop ‘Phagpa Lokeśvara of the Potala’, Orientations, Hong Kong, April 1990, pp. 51-61, p. 56. The image Alsop refers to, has been identified by him as the Phagpa Lokeśvara housed in the Phagpa Lhakhang, the oldest and most sacred shrine of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet.
According to legend, the bodhisattva figure was brought from Nepal to Tibet in the seventh century and offered to the great Tibetan Emperor Songtsen Gampo (c. 617-47) as his tutelary deity. Copies modelled after the revered original, can be viewed and worshipped in various chapels in the Potala Palace and in monasteries spread over a wide geographical area including Tibet, India and Nepal, see for example, two figures in monasteries in Ladakh and in India, illustrated in Alsop, op. cit., figs. 18 and 19 respectively; and another figure from a Tibetan monastery, published in Zhongguo meishu fenlei quanji. Zhongguo zangchan fojiao diaosu quanji. 6: Mudiao [The complete series of classification of Chinese art. The complete series of Chinese Tibetan Buddhist sculpture, vol. 6: Wood sculpture], Beijing, 2002, pl. 56.
The present head with its graceful features, its brows finely arched over slightly upturned lids and its faint smile around the lips, is a particularly sensitive rendering of Phagpa Lokeśvara. Its elongated face and eyes, small mouth and slightly curved nose, are traits that relate to those of a remarkably well-preserved Nepalese wood figure of Avalokiteśvara, attributed to the eighth century, included in the exhibiton Buddha. 2000 Years of Buddhist Art. 232 Masterpieces, the Völklinger Hütte World Heritage Site, Völklingen, 2016, cat. no. 129, where the possible origin and the style of the sculpture, a mixture of Indian Pāla and independent Nepalese styles, is discussed. Indeed, a particular style and place or region of manufacture are difficult to define, as various local stylistic characteristics are often simultaneously observed in a single figure, see Pratapaditya Pal, Art of Tibet, New York, 1969, for a discussion on the complexities encountered in the analysis of two bodhisattva figures, cat. nos S13 and S14.
Comparable heads on standing Phagpa Lokeśvara figures included in various renowned public and private collections, made of wood, ivory, metal and bronze, are illustrated in Alsop, op.cit., figs. 1-14. Related sculptures of Phagpa Lokeśvara were sold in our New York rooms, 19th September 2008, lot 301 and at Christie’s Paris, 11th June 2008, lot 216 and 7th June 2011, lot 412.
odhisattva figure was brought from Nepal to Tibet in the seventh century and offered to the great Tibetan Emperor Songtsen Gampo (c. 617-47) as his tutelary deity. Copies modelled after the revered original, can be viewed and worshipped in various chapels in the Potala Palace and in monasteries spread over a wide geographical area including Tibet, India and Nepal, see for example, two figures in monasteries in Ladakh and in India, illustrated in Alsop, op. cit., figs. 18 and 19 respectively; and another figure from a Tibetan monastery, published in Zhongguo meishu fenlei quanji. Zhongguo zangchan fojiao diaosu quanji. 6: Mudiao [The complete series of classification of Chinese art. The complete series of Chinese Tibetan Buddhist sculpture, vol. 6: Wood sculpture], Beijing, 2002, pl. 56.
The present head with its graceful features, its brows finely arched over slightly upturned lids and its faint smile around the lips, is a particularly sensitive rendering of Phagpa Lokeśvara. Its elongated face and eyes, small mouth and slightly curved nose, are traits that relate to those of a remarkably well-preserved Nepalese wood figure of Avalokiteśvara, attributed to the eighth century, included in the exhibiton Buddha. 2000 Years of Buddhist Art. 232 Masterpieces, the Völklinger Hütte World Heritage Site, Völklingen, 2016, cat. no. 129, where the possible origin and the style of the sculpture, a mixture of Indian Pāla and independent Nepalese styles, is discussed. Indeed, a particular style and place or region of manufacture are difficult to define, as various local stylistic characteristics are often simultaneously observed in a single figure, see Pratapaditya Pal, Art of Tibet, New York, 1969, for a discussion on the complexities encountered in the analysis of two bodhisattva figures, cat. nos S13 and S14.
Comparable heads on standing Phagpa Lokeśvara figures included in various renowned public and private collections, made of wood, ivory, metal and bronze, are illustrated in Alsop, op.cit., figs. 1-14. Related sculptures of Phagpa Lokeśvara were sold in our New York rooms, 19th September 2008, lot 301 and at Christie’s Paris, 11th June 2008, lot 216 and 7th June 2011, lot 412.
As the models of this particular group consistently follow a distinctive iconography, it has been suggested that their inspiration was an earlier statue: “……all these figures must be patterned after a single ‘ancient type’……, or a single image rather than a type.”, see Ian Alsop ‘Phagpa Lokeśvara of the Potala’, Orientations, Hong Kong, April 1990, pp. 51-61, p. 56. The image Alsop refers to, has been identified by him as the Phagpa Lokeśvara housed in the Phagpa Lhakhang, the oldest and most sacred shrine of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet.
According to legend, the
This head of Phagpa Lokeśvara is outstanding for its pure elegance, dignified simplicity and serene facial expression. Deep in meditation, the face radiates enlightenment.
The present image belongs to a select group of portrayals of Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, known in China as Guanyin and in Tibet as Phagpa Lokeśvara (‘Noble Lord of the World’). The representations display specific stylistic characteristics, including a tall three-lobed crown of simple design with an effigy of the Bodhisattva in the central panel, a coiffure fashioned in tresses extending on either side of the headdress and a lack of jewellery except for a pair of big bell-shaped earrings; the Bodhisattva with a naked torso and a transparent dhoti held in place with a belt, typically stands in a rigid pose with the right hand in varada mudrā (gesture of bestowal) and the left hand close to the hip above a sash slung low across the thighs.
As the models of this particular group consistently follow a distinctive iconography, it has been suggested that their inspiration was an earlier statue: “……all these figures must be patterned after a single ‘ancient type’……, or a single image rather than a type.”, see Ian Alsop ‘Phagpa Lokeśvara of the Potala’, Orientations, Hong Kong, April 1990, pp. 51-61, p. 56. The image Alsop refers to, has been identified by him as the Phagpa Lokeśvara housed in the Phagpa Lhakhang, the oldest and most sacred shrine of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet.
According to legend, the bodhisattva figure was brought from Nepal to Tibet in the seventh century and offered to the great Tibetan Emperor Songtsen Gampo (c. 617-47) as his tutelary deity. Copies modelled after the revered original, can be viewed and worshipped in various chapels in the Potala Palace and in monasteries spread over a wide geographical area including Tibet, India and Nepal, see for example, two figures in monasteries in Ladakh and in India, illustrated in Alsop, op. cit., figs. 18 and 19 respectively; and another figure from a Tibetan monastery, published in Zhongguo meishu fenlei quanji. Zhongguo zangchan fojiao diaosu quanji. 6: Mudiao [The complete series of classification of Chinese art. The complete series of Chinese Tibetan Buddhist sculpture, vol. 6: Wood sculpture], Beijing, 2002, pl. 56.
The present head with its graceful features, its brows finely arched over slightly upturned lids and its faint smile around the lips, is a particularly sensitive rendering of Phagpa Lokeśvara. Its elongated face and eyes, small mouth and slightly curved nose, are traits that relate to those of a remarkably well-preserved Nepalese wood figure of Avalokiteśvara, attributed to the eighth century, included in the exhibiton Buddha. 2000 Years of Buddhist Art. 232 Masterpieces, the Völklinger Hütte World Heritage Site, Völklingen, 2016, cat. no. 129, where the possible origin and the style of the sculpture, a mixture of Indian Pāla and independent Nepalese styles, is discussed. Indeed, a particular style and place or region of manufacture are difficult to define, as various local stylistic characteristics are often simultaneously observed in a single figure, see Pratapaditya Pal, Art of Tibet, New York, 1969, for a discussion on the complexities encountered in the analysis of two bodhisattva figures, cat. nos S13 and S14.
Comparable heads on standing Phagpa Lokeśvara figures included in various renowned public and private collections, made of wood, ivory, metal and bronze, are illustrated in Alsop, op.cit., figs. 1-14. Related sculptures of Phagpa Lokeśvara were sold in our New York rooms, 19th September 2008, lot 301 and at Christie’s Paris, 11th June 2008, lot 216 and 7th June 2011, lot 412.
odhisattva figure was brought from Nepal to Tibet in the seventh century and offered to the great Tibetan Emperor Songtsen Gampo (c. 617-47) as his tutelary deity. Copies modelled after the revered original, can be viewed and worshipped in various chapels in the Potala Palace and in monasteries spread over a wide geographical area including Tibet, India and Nepal, see for example, two figures in monasteries in Ladakh and in India, illustrated in Alsop, op. cit., figs. 18 and 19 respectively; and another figure from a Tibetan monastery, published in Zhongguo meishu fenlei quanji. Zhongguo zangchan fojiao diaosu quanji. 6: Mudiao [The complete series of classification of Chinese art. The complete series of Chinese Tibetan Buddhist sculpture, vol. 6: Wood sculpture], Beijing, 2002, pl. 56.
The present head with its graceful features, its brows finely arched over slightly upturned lids and its faint smile around the lips, is a particularly sensitive rendering of Phagpa Lokeśvara. Its elongated face and eyes, small mouth and slightly curved nose, are traits that relate to those of a remarkably well-preserved Nepalese wood figure of Avalokiteśvara, attributed to the eighth century, included in the exhibiton Buddha. 2000 Years of Buddhist Art. 232 Masterpieces, the Völklinger Hütte World Heritage Site, Völklingen, 2016, cat. no. 129, where the possible origin and the style of the sculpture, a mixture of Indian Pāla and independent Nepalese styles, is discussed. Indeed, a particular style and place or region of manufacture are difficult to define, as various local stylistic characteristics are often simultaneously observed in a single figure, see Pratapaditya Pal, Art of Tibet, New York, 1969, for a discussion on the complexities encountered in the analysis of two bodhisattva figures, cat. nos S13 and S14.
Comparable heads on standing Phagpa Lokeśvara figures included in various renowned public and private collections, made of wood, ivory, metal and bronze, are illustrated in Alsop, op.cit., figs. 1-14. Related sculptures of Phagpa Lokeśvara were sold in our New York rooms, 19th September 2008, lot 301 and at Christie’s Paris, 11th June 2008, lot 216 and 7th June 2011, lot 412.