A Copper Alloy Figure of Milarepa with Silver and Copper Inlay, Tibet, 16th Century

Auction Closed

September 20, 05:33 PM GMT

Estimate

10,000 - 15,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Property From the Estate of Raymond Cheven

A Copper Alloy Figure of Milarepa with Silver and Copper Inlay

Tibet, 16th Century

Height 4 in. (10.2 cm)

the Kagyu master seated on a lotus throne draped with a flayed antelope-skin, the head and forepaws hanging over the front, with his right hand in vitarka mudra, his left holding a kapala, the face with goatee and mustache, the copper inlaid eyes with pronounced pupils, large ears framing the face, with hair arranged in wavy curls, wearing a copper inlaid sash over his chest and rounded belly, his robe draped over his shoulders with the borders incised with a scrolling foliate pattern

Himalayan Art Resources item no. 13776.

Heeramaneck Collection.
Sotheby's London, 10th March 1986, lot 122.
Collection of Raymond Cheven (1928-2011).

Compare the sculpture to another Buddhist Hierarch published in the Nyingjei Lam collection (D. Weldon and J.C. Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, pp. 186-7, pl. 47). Both show the same copper inlay and incised hem, eyes with silver inlay as well as a similar lotus petal style covered with an antelope skin laid over the base.