This refined statuette, probably representing Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom, adopts an elegantly undulating position in triple bending (Tribhanga), which accentuates the shapes of its size and thighs. With his right hand, this deity performs the gesture of argumentation (Vitarka mudrâ) associated with it and with his left-hand holds the stem of a flower now extinct. If this figure is Manjushri, the element held in his right hand must have been a blue lotus, perhaps surmounted by the book of supreme wisdom and the sword cutting ignorance. Produced in the Kathmandu Valley by the Newar people, this piece bears the characteristics of their art by its great elegance, tempered however by a certain stylization, and by the incrustations of semi-precious stones, revealing the taste of the Nepalese for luxurious ornamentations. and which will develop by exuberance as of the following century.
Partly missing, they consist of pieces of glass as well as lapis lazuli and garnet, and enhance a work executed in a copper of great purity. The amount of gold present in the metal may have been the subject of a votive gift, at the origin of the creation of this image which was perhaps part of a triad composed of a Buddha flanked by two assistants bodhisattva.
This is a remarkable example of the metallic statuary of the apogee of Newar art during the period of the “Old Malla” (1200-1482). This population owes most of the creations of Nepali art, whose aesthetic canons are inspired by Indian art, and which influenced that of Himalaya from the beginning of our era. During this period, the increase of trade with Tibet allowed the emergence of a high social class generous towards the Buddhist foundations and generating important patronage.
Text after N. Bazin and G. Béguin.
Details
- Title : Manjushri
- Year : (1200-1768) Thirteenth century
- Classification : Sculpture
- Medium : Golden copper and inlaid
- Dimension : H: 55.9 cm
- Accession No : MA 5031
- Country/ Geo-location : Nepal
- Period : Malla Dynasty
- Collection : The Guimet Museum of Asian Art