Himalayas: The Richard R. & Magdalena Ernst Collection of Important Tibetan Paintings and other Himalayan Works of Art

A rare gilt-copper figure of Prajnaparamita, Nepal, 16th century | 尼泊爾十六世紀銅鎏金般若佛母坐像

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December 15, 11:33 AM GMT

Estimate

40,000 - 60,000 EUR

Lot Details

Description

A rare gilt-copper figure of Prajnaparamita,

Nepal, 16th century

the four-armed goddess holding mala rosary beads and a sutra in her upper hands, with her principal hands in dharmachakra mudra, wearing a regal crown and sumptuous gem-set jewelry, a separately made halo attached behind, a billowing scarf draped over her shoulders, and seated with legs crossed in vajraparyankasana, stand

(2)

H. 19.8 cm, 7 3/4 in.

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Rare statuette de Prajnaparamita en cuivre doré, Népal, XVIe siècle

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尼泊爾十六世紀銅鎏金般若佛母坐像

Prajnaparamita is the personification of Buddhist wisdom in divine female form, manifest in the eponymous ‘Perfection of Wisdom’ Prajnaparamita sutra. Although the sutra is ubiquitous in the performance of Buddhist studies and meditation practice in the Himalayan region, Nepalese sculptural representations of the deity are extremely rare, cf. an example in a private collection, in Jan van Alphen, Cast for Eternity, Antwerp, 2005, p. 119, cat. 33. Compare the modelling, physiognomy, and jewelry style with a Nepalese Manjushri and Prajna dated 1571 in Pratapaditya Pal, The Arts of Nepal: Sculpture, Leiden/Köln, 1974, pl. 40, and another dated 1575 in the Norton Simon Museum, see Pratapaditya Pal, Art from the Himalayas & China, Newhaven and London, 2003, pp. 96-7, cat. 62.

A rare gilt-copper figure of Prajnaparamita, Nepal, 16th century | 尼泊爾 十六世紀 銅鎏金般若佛母坐像

A rare gilt-copper figure of Prajnaparamita, Nepal, 16th century | 尼泊爾十六世紀銅鎏金般若佛母坐像