A large gem-inset copper-alloy Mahaparinirvana stupa, Tibet, circa 13th century

Christie's Amsterdam, 23th October 1991, lot 99.

Goden en goeroe's, Museum voor Volkenkunde, Rotterdam, 1989.

Hugo Kreijker, Godenbeelden uit Tibet, Amsterdam, 1989, p. 121.

Stupas of this shape are colloquially know as Kadampa chorten, after the eastern Indian stupa designs brought to Tibet by, amongst others, the famous Indian Buddhist Saint Atisha (958-1054), whose disciples would form the Kadampa Order of Tibetan Buddhism. Compare the large Kadampa stupas at Nethang, the monastery where Atisha taught and his relics are enshrined, see Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p. 465. For a discussion on the cult of the stupa, see von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, vol. I, Hong Kong, 2001, pp 364-65.

The stupa is finely cast in sections and inset with semi-precious stones and foil-backed paste. The contents of the reliquary are now lost but the metal sealing plate remains intact and engraved with a lotus flower displaying the Eight Auspicious Emblems on its petals, surrounding a central mandala depicting mythical animals and a celestial being.

Lots 1 to 4 are consigned from an eminent Dutch private collector, who formed a small but superlative group of Himalayan works of art after travelling in Nepal and Tibet in the 1970s/80s. A magnificent large Tibetan 14th century gilt figure of Buddha from the collection was sold in our New York rooms, 20th March 2025, lot 563.