A Large Gilt Copper Repousse Figure of Tara
Nepal, 17th-19th century
The figure exquisitely cast standing in gentle Tribhanga on a lotus base over a stepped openwork plinth, her hands held in Varada and Vitarka mudras, wearing a long dhoti incised with lotus scrolls and secured with a belt and pendant sashes, multiple necklaces, bracelets and earrings, her face with serene expression and surmounted by a crown with a scalloped nimbus, all surrounded by an elaborate openwork foliate Mandorla inhabited by birds, miniature figures and clusters of leaves supporting chakras
46½ in. (118 cm.) high
Details
- Title : A Large Gilt Copper Repousse Figure of Tara
- Classification : Sculpture
- Medium : Gilt - Copper Repousse
- Country/ Geo-location : Nepal
- Period : 17th-19th century
- Collection : Christies
- LOT : 170
- Pre-Lot Text : PROPERTY FROM THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
- Lot Essay : This is finely executed standing figure of Tara, where the artist has unusually emphasized one of Tara's principle attributes, the lotus-stalk, to construct an elaborate nimbus around the central figure. Although produced in a different style, similar treatments of vine-scroll throne backs appear surrounding a figure of Manjushri in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated in U. von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981, p. 393, no. 108 E, and as part of a candelabra with donor figures in the collection of the Denver Art Museum, illustrated in P. Pal, The Arts of Nepal, Volume One: Sculpture, 1974, pl. 49.
- Price realised : USD 156,000
- Estimate : USD 50,000 - USD 70,000
- Provenance : The Metropolitan Museum of Art, John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1915 (15.95.155a,b)