Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art - New York I March 16, 2021 - Bonhams
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Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art New York I March 16, 2021
Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art
New York | Tuesday March 16, 2021 at 6pm
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Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art
New York, Hong Kong, Singapore
Edward Wilkinson
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Mark Rasmussen
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Chinese Works of Art and Paintings
New York
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1 - 300 No lots 301 A GILT COPPER ALLOY SHRINE TO DANCING GANESHA NEPAL, DATED 1849 CE With a dedicatory inscription around the base naming the donors and dated Nepal Samvat 969 (1849 CE). Himalayan Art Resources item no.48052 17 3/4 in. (45 cm) high $30,000 - 50,000 尼泊爾 1849年 銅鎏金舞姿象神像 Set before a flaming aureole, Ganesha extends his legs in how the dancing attitude (natyasthana) is depicted in Nepal. Two little lotus-borne rodents are underfoot like a pair of skates. His four arms are cast in a balanced array, his hands holding typical attributes: a set of mala beads, an axe, his broken right tusk, and a bowl of sweets he is sampling with his trunk. Fabulously dressed, Ganesha wears a tall, plumed crown like the principal dancer at one of the Great Gatsby’s parties. On the subject of Dancing Ganesha, Grewal writes: “[Ganesha dancing] is possibly inspired by the image of Shiva as the divine dancer. But while Shiva’s dance is of cosmic significance incorporating creation and destruction, Ganesha’s does not carry such weighty consequence. His is a more playful version, almost rambunctious, appropriate for the mischievous ganas, associated with fun and frolic, whom Ganesha leads. Indeed, the ganas are often portrayed cavorting and playing musical instruments to accompany Shiva’s dance. Some myths present Ganesha dancing before his parents to entertain and divert them. Dance, in many cultures, is, of course, a form of prayer which creates a heightened consciousness and elicits energies that call forth the divinity within the self.” (Grewal, Book of Ganesha, New Delhi, 2012, p.130). Nepalese depictions of Dancing Ganesha differ from those found in India. For example, he is shown with both feet on the ground or on a pair of rodents, rather than with one foot in the air. Nepalese depictions also do not dwell on the spectacle of how Ganesha frolics despite his huge belly, instead giving him a smaller potbelly and a more athletic overall physique. Compare several Nepalese stone steles of the subject published in von Schroeder, Nepalese Stone Sculptures, Vol.I, Weesen, 2019, pp.316-7, nos.101A-H. Among them, a c.18th-century stele (no.101E) has a similar crown with thin, tall leaves. Also, whereas Indian images often emphasize Ganesha’s love of sweets, Nepalese images focus on his ability to grant boons, depicting wish-fulfilling gems (cintamani) similarly shaped to those being nibbled on by the rodents beneath his feet. It is also common for Nepalese Dancing Ganeshas to wear a garland of gems; while no garland is worn here, there is an incised band of circles bordering the hem of his lower garment, evoking such iconography along with the grape-like clusters found over his shins. Published Gautama V. Vajracharya, Nepalese Seasons: Rain and Ritual, New York, 2016, pp.151, 153 & 154, no.48. Exhibited Nepalese Seasons: Rain and Ritual, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 6 May 2016 — 27 March 2017. Provenance Collection of John & Karina Stewart, by 2005 4 | BONHAMS
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 5
302
A PAIR OF CAST COPPER PLAQUES OF DURGA These finely cast plaques depict two manifestations of the Hindu
NEPAL, 18TH CENTURY goddess Durga, a powerful incarnation of the Mother Goddess (Devi).
With remains of gilding. According to the Garuda Purana she can have four, eight, twelve,
Himalayan Art Resources item nos.16918 & 16919 eighteen, or twenty-eight arms, and Durga is represented in many ways
9 in. (22.8 cm), the larger in Nepal. She is often shown standing in pratyalidhasana, a dramatic
pose with one foot raised and the other extended, as in both panels.
$10,000 - 15,000 In one, she steps on her lion mount while holding a sword, shield, and
bowl, and in the other she steps on Garuda while holding a discus,
尼泊爾 十八世紀 難近母銅像二尊 staff, and bowl. Compare the elongated lotus petals and stylized flame
mandorla to a repoussé panel of Durga sold at Bonhams, New York, 13
March 2017, lot 3050.
Provenance
Soo Tze Orientique, Melbourne, 2000s
6 | BONHAMS
303
A POLYCHROMED CLAY FIGURE OF This charismatic portrait is naturalistically modelled and finely painted
ZHABDRUNG NGAWANG NAMGYAL with gold decorating the cushion, robe, and hat with auspicious
BHUTAN, CIRCA 18TH CENTURY symbols. Recognized by his distinctive long beard and the large,
Himalayan Art Resources item no.16917 fan-shaped hat worn by the Drugpa Kagyu order, this figure
8 in. (20.3 cm) high commemorates Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651), a spiritual
and political leader who established the Drugpa Kagyu in Bhutan
$20,000 - 30,000 in 1616 and unified the country in 1634. His identifying features
are shared by a thangka in the Tango Buddhist Institute, Bhutan
不丹 約十八世紀 彩繪泥塑夏仲阿旺朗傑像 (Bartholomew & Johnston (eds.), The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts
of Bhutan, Chicago, 2008, pp.338-9, no.85), another polychromed
wood figure with similar high cheekbones (ibid., pp.336-7, no.84), and
a later thangka in the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago (HAR
54387). Also see Christie’s, New York, 20 March 2012, lot 139, and
HAR 33822.
Provenance
Private Collection, California, acquired mid-1980s
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 7
304
A THANGKA OF ARHAT NAGASENA The Karma Kagyu order headed by the Karmapa lineage was once the
SCHOOL OF CHOYING DORJE, wealthiest in Tibet until it lost a civil war with a Gelug-Mongol alliance.
EASTERN TIBET OR YUNNAN PROVINCE, In 1645, leading what little remained of his order, Choying Dorje fled
17TH/18TH CENTURY Tibet, eventually taking refuge for 29 years in the Chinese city of Lijiang
Himalayan Art Resources item no.90513 (Yunnan province). There, according to his biographies, he created a
38 7/8 x 20 5/8 in. (73.1 x 52.4 cm) copy of a famous set of silk arhat paintings kept at Gangkar monastery
in Sichuan province called the Drakthokma Arhats (“Arhats atop
$30,000 - 50,000 Rocks”). In another instance, he is recorded tracing his set with heavy
ink, as if making further iterations. Debrecezny argues this Nagasena,
確映多傑風格 藏東或雲南 十七/十八世紀 那迦犀尊者唐卡 together with the identified group, represent iterations of the Tenth
Karmapa’s Drakthokma Arhats. Further supporting the attribution, this
Tibetan arhat paintings form a special genre borrowing heavily from Nagasena has a strikingly similar composition, including a number
the Chinese arhat tradition. Yet, compared to most Tibetan thangkas, of idiosyncratic elements, that a painting of the same subject in the
this painting has an even stronger Chinese aesthetic, adopting not only Lijiang Municipal Museum shares, which is clearly in the style Choying
traditional figural and landscape elements, but also Chinese brushwork Dorje is best known for (ibid., p.194, fig.7.2).
techniques and the medium of monochromatic ink on silk. In fluid lines,
spontaneous ink wash, and wet dots, this remarkable painting creates Published
a dynamic image of Arhat Nagasena sitting on a craggy rock in front Karl Debreczeny, The Black Hat Eccentric: Artistic Visions of the Tenth
of rolling waves. One of the Sixteen Great Arhats, he is best known for Karmapa, New York, 2012, pp.194, fig.7.1 (also detailed across pages
his conversations with the Indo-Greek king, Menander I (r.165/155-130 192 & 193).
BCE). Nagasena is often depicted holding a staff and a vase. Here, the
vase, which is decorated with peonies and a phoenix, is carried by a Provenance
charismatic gnome who pours an ocean from it, drawing the amiable The Rezk Collection
attention of an auspicious dragon. The Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Pennsylvania,
deaccessioned in 2020
A leading expert on the life and artwork of the Tenth Karmapa, Choying Concept Art Gallery, 10 June 2020, lot 49
Dorje (1604-1674), Karl Debreczeny identifies this and eleven other
paintings that form part of, or represent copies of, an arhat set created
by Choying Dorje—Tibet’s most eccentric artist. All painted in this
monochromatic style, nine of the eleven thangkas are preserved at
Palpung monastery in Eastern Tibet, while the remaining two are at
the Brooklyn Museum and the Rubin Museum of Art (Debreczeny,
The Black Hat Eccentric New York, 2012, pp.194-201). Debreczeny
argues against an alternative attribution to Situ Panchen (1700-1774),
the founder of the Palpung painting style, made by the scholar Karma
Gyaltsen and some monks at the Palpung. Instead, referring to the
Tenth Karmapa’s biographies, he concludes that the group represents,
“copies that Situ commissioned in the eighteenth century based on
Choying Dorje’s paintings or products of his workshop” (ibid., p.202).
The Black Hat The Arhat Genre
The overwhelming majority of paintings so far identified as being in the style of Chöying
Dorjé, fifty out of sixty-four that I am aware of, are arhats.608 It is difficult to tell if this is
Eccentric representative of his overall production and his thematic and stylistic interests during his
long painting career. An examination of textual descriptions of the Tenth Karmapa’s paint-
ings, however, corroborate this extant visual evidence and shows that the Sixteen Arhats was
in fact the most common theme recorded. For example, in surveying the excised biography
ARTISTIC VISIONS OF THE by Situ Paṇchen and Belo, which contains the greatest detail about the Karmapa’s artistic
production, arhats are by far the most common painting theme mentioned: some twenty-
T E N T H K A R M A PA
seven times, roughly twice as many as the next most common theme of Avalokiteśvara with
fourteen. The Karmapa self-identifies with both these subjects, and is considered an emana-
tion of Avalokiteśvara.609
While the Sixteen Arhats was a prominent theme throughout his painting career, more
than half (about seventeen of twenty-seven paintings) were produced during the twenty-
five-year period from 1647 to 1673 when he lived in the kingdom of Lijiang, suggesting
that he became increasingly interested in this theme and the styles associated with it during
his stay there in exile. Beyond the Tenth Karmapa’s self-identification with his subject mat-
ter, it may have been the very nature of the arhat genre within the Tibetan tradition, being
The Black Hat
Chinese-derived and thus a rich vehicle of Chinese visual modes, that may have attracted
the Karmapa to this genre and made it a convenient conduit through which to explore his
artistic interests. Indeed, based on the body of works so far identified, his new style seems
Eccentric intimately linked with this genre. That the Tenth Karmapa’s arhat interest does not appear to
be purely religious in nature is reinforced by the fact that such a production of arhats is not
chapter 7
Genre, Style,
reflected in the sculpture he is recorded as making or in known sculptures in his style.
As mentioned in the beginning of this discussion, the Sixteen Arhats was one of the and Medium
earliest models the Tenth Karmapa copied and collected in his painting career. In 1629 he
ARTISTIC VISIONS OF THE
is recorded as composing the outlines and color for paintings of the Sixteen Arhats for the
T E N T H K A R M A PA
first time, and in a few instances some description is given of the individual paintings, such
as Mahākāruṇika Surrounded by the Sixteen Elders and later in 1649 he copied a painting on
silk of the Sixteen Elders (gnas bcu’i si thang), which was known as “the One from the Inner
Sanctum of Tsal” (Tshal gTsang khang ma), of which the main figure Śākyamuni was [mod-
eled after a statue] called the “Sumatran [Buddha]” (gSer gling ma).610 The Tenth Karmapa
was already famous in his lifetime for the beauty of his depictions of this genre, as this
theme was specifically requested: “In accord with [someone’s] having told him they needed
paintings of the Sixteen Elders by his hand he gave them and thus, [the Karmapa] said that
besides the shining of the colors (its beauty), they were not a good support for accumulat-
ing longevity.”611 (One is tempted to take this as a kind of indirect acknowledgment by the
Karmapa that these paintings were made more for art’s sake, as opposed to a purely religious
motivation.)
Experimenting with Other (Ink) Styles
Monochrome Ink
Visual evidence suggests that the Tenth Karmapa experimented with other styles associ-
ated with the arhat genre. None of these works are inscribed but appear to be related to
KARL DEBRECZENY
193
FIG. 7.1, DETAIL
Cover and illustration from Karl Debreczeny, The Black Hat Eccentric: Artistic Visions of the Tenth Karmapa,
Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2012, pp.192 & 193.
10 | BONHAMSINDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 11
305 A BRASS FIGURE OF VAJRAVARAHI NORTHEASTERN INDIA, PALA PERIOD, CIRCA 11TH CENTURY Himalayan Art Resources item no.16914 7 1/2 in. (19 cm) high $400,000 - 600,000 印度東北部 帕拉時期 約十一世紀 金剛亥母銅像 Provenance Nyingjei Lam Collection, acquired in the 1990s Dancing on a corpse representing the human ego, Vajravarahi is a form of the most important female meditational deity (yidam) in Tibetan Buddhism, providing a route to enlightenment. Aloft in her right hand she wields a flaying knife (kartika), which tantric practitioners use in rituals to visualize flaying their own limited self- perception. In her left hand she holds a skull cup (kapala). The staff (khatvanga) cast in the crook of her left arm is a visual cue to her male counterpart Samvara, another key yidam. Also known as a “transformative deity”, a yidam serves as a transcendent role model, embodying a set of doctrines, meditations, and ritual practices that a tantric practitioner uses to transform their consciousness and be reborn instantly as the enlightened yidam itself. With her implements, garland of severed heads, and crown of dried skulls, Vajravarahi’s terrific vision confronts our mortal limitations. Yet, she does so with the grace and beauty of a young dancer poised entirely on the ball of her left foot. She has a composed, deliberate manner. Underfoot, swirling vegetal waters of the cosmos have given rise to the lotus she dances upon, as more vines rise to support her—for Vajravarahi is the sacred, cultivated blossom of Buddhist wisdom. Rich with such expressive iconography, this inspired bronze of the goddess derives from the cradle of Tantric Buddhism in Northeastern India. The sculpture is cast in the Pala style of the 11th century, coinciding with the period in which devotion to Vajravarahi and related yidams emerged as central practices in Tantric Buddhism as it would subsequently be preserved in Tibet. Thus, this refined bronze is likely among the earliest depictions of the goddess in bronze. Vajravarahi is a form of Vajrayogini, the most important female yidam, with a porcine head protruding from the right side of her skull (ibid., “Vajrayogini”). In Buddhist teachings, the pig represents ignorance, one of the three primary obstacles to enlightenment. Thus, Vajravarahi’s appearance alludes to her ability to confront and transform this poison into wisdom. There is a general scholarly consensus that Vajravarahi is an adaptation of the Hindu goddess Varahi, the female counterpart to the boar avatar of Vishnu, who raised the Earth from a cosmic watery abyss. The sculpture appears to evoke this heroic, divine act. Vedic literature frequently likens the Earth to a delicate young girl, embodied here by Vajravarahi, who is shown flowering out of chaotic vegetal waters represented by the scrollwork around the base. 12 | BONHAMS
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 13
Together with the band of plump lotus petals around the sculpture’s base, the exuberant scrolls draw on an iconographic convention that permeates Indic religions. Transcending earth, water, air, fire, and space, the aquatic flower symbolizes the sacred source of the cosmos—its stem is life’s umbilicus. In Buddhism, the image of the lotus arising from its murky bed is used as a metaphor for any sentient being’s ability to achieve enlightenment, regardless of their karmic debt. Below Vajravarahi’s right shin, a floral stem rises from the scrollwork and sprouts a wish-fulfilling gem, itself a microcosm of the sculpture’s overall sentiment, conveying the promise of the transcendent boon Vajravarahi represents for practitioners. While the petaled rim of a lotus pedestal supports almost any bronze sculpture of a Buddhist deity that survives with its base, the vines and waters below are much rarer. They are sometimes seen in stone sculpture from the Pala period, but seldom carried over into bronze figures. Examples in stone can be found on two 9th-century steles of Avalokiteshvara and a 10th-century stele of Varaha (Asher, Nalanda, Mumbai, 2015, pp.112, 113 & 117, nos. 5.15, 5.16 & 5.22). An 8th-century stone panel from Nalanda offers a precedent for the Vajravarahi’s scrollwork in shallow relief (Chandra, Indian Sculpture, Washington, 1985, p.143, no.64). One reason for the rarity of depicting vegetal waters is that many Pala bronzes were cast separately from their original stands representing the subject, as one stand from the 12th century in the Metropolitan Museum of Art demonstrates (fig.1; 2009.21a–c). Bronze sculptural lotus mandalas also show the stem rising from water, such as a Vajratara mandala in the Indian Museum, Kolkata (Ray, Eastern Indian Bronzes, 1986, nos.281a & b). But, based on the few known examples, including two superlative bronzes from the 10th and 11th century of Buddha and Avalokiteshvara with large openwork roundels (Ray, ibid., nos.232 & 233), and a further 11th-/12th-century Manjushri sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 24 March 2011, lot 26 (for over two million dollars) with similar shallow scrollwork, this added symbolism was reserved for outstanding castings. Fig.1 Foliate Pedestal for a Buddhist Image Late 12th century India (probably Bengal) Partially gilded brass, copper base H. 8 1/4 in. (21 cm); W. 7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm); D. 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Purchase, The Manheim Foundation Inc. Gift and Rogers Fund, by exchange, 2009 (2009.21a–c) 14 | BONHAMS
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 15
The exceptional artist has embedded yet more symbolism into a technical detail of his creation. The waters brim with additional sprouts creeping over the sides of the lotus pedestal. The vines perform a structural function by supporting the figure, who would otherwise be connected to the base only by the weak point of the left foot. This technical knowhow was commonly employed by Pala artists, though rarely so elaborately. More often, long trailing scarfs or even a plain stem at the back were used as supports, as for a Hevajra in the Nyingjei Lam Collection (Weldon & Casey Singer, Sculptural Heritage of Tibet, London, 1999, p.21, fig.14). A later Tibetan copy of Vajrayogini in the Pala style shows a simple stem rising from the top of the base (HAR 57313), and another of Vajravarahi in the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a more elaborate support rising from the tail of a goose (fig.2; 2014.720.2). Yet, all pale in comparison to the creative vision and technical prowess exhibited by the variety of flowers reaching upward in celebration of this Vajravarahi. The 10th, 11th, and 12th centuries saw a period of religious and artistic transfer between India and Tibet known as the Second Dissemination of Buddhism in Tibet. While many sculptures imitating the Pala style were produced in Tibet during and after the Second Dissemination, the nuance and depth of this Vajravarahi’s symbolism indicate an original model from Northeastern India. Indeed, the confident display of the knot tying Vajravarahi’s belt at the small of her back, the crisp pendants hanging from her necklace, and the lozenges in the bangle around her left wrist, representing human bone ornaments sometimes used in tantric rituals, evince the intricate bronze casting of the late Pala period. The insistence on figural plasticity in India’s material culture is alive in the suppleness of her waist and hamstrings. Rather than sacrifice a convincing portrayal of her balance in order to merely accomplish the iconography of her dancing, as is often done in Tibetan copies (fig.2), the trajectory of sprouting flowers cater to an ideal representation of her pose. Moreover, whereas Indian religious art aims to entice the deity with a sensuous body to temporarily inhabit, a Tibetan icon’s sacred energy is provided by consecrations lodged within it. Therefore, the absence of a consecration plate underneath the sculpture, or of any indication that it was ever meant to confine one, is another compelling indicator that the bronze is from Northeastern India. Fig.2 Vajravarahi in a Wrathful Pose 13th century Central Tibet Copper alloy with turquoise, silver, and colors H. 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm); W. 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm); D. 3 3/8 in. (8.6 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Zimmerman Family Collection, Gift of the Zimmerman Family, 2014 (2014.720.2) 16 | BONHAMS
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 17
Helping to narrow the dating of the bronze to c.11th century, the flaying knife (kartika) in Vajravarahi’s right hand appears to have an early shape that subsequently fluctuates by the 13th century. Cast unambiguously here as a curved dagger, it differs from the wider crescent blades and ever-shifting positions of the handle represented across several 13th-century thangkas compiled as HAR set no.3765 (“Vajrayogini: Early Paintings”). However, an earlier Kadam thangka attributed c.1100 (fig.3; HAR 35845) depicts a knife more akin to the dagger in the present bronze, and in equally exacting detail. A 12th-century Pala bronze of Vajravarahi preserved in the Potala Palace Collection, Lhasa, also shows her brandishing a curved dagger (von Schroeder, Buddhist Bronzes in Tibet, Vol.I, Hong Kong, 2001, no.94A), while its comparatively reductive ornamentation and posture suggest it is a later casting. An excellent stylistic comparison in stone from the early 11th century is a famous Pala stele of Hevajra in the Bangladesh National Museum (Huntington & Huntington, The Art of Ancient India, New York, 1999, p.399, fig.18.13). His flaming hair is similarly arranged into a fan-like coiffure above a crown of three dried skulls tied by a ribbon with upswept ends. His torque’s pendants also appear modelled after tiger teeth, the long necklace that approaches his navel is made of strings of beads, and the severed heads he wears as a garland are similarly dwarfed by his size. By the end of the 10th century in Northeastern India, a new class of tantras ascended in popularity, centered around yidams such as Hevajra and Vajravarahi (cf. Linrothe, Ruthless Compassion, London, 1999, p.324). Called Anuttarayoga Tantras, or “Highest Yoga Tantras”, they and their icons spread to the Tibetan Plateau as central practices during the Second Dissemination. As most Pala sculptures that remained in India were lost or buried during the onslaught of Muslim invasions at the start of the 13th century—which leveled the region’s Buddhist monasteries—this Vajravarahi’s buttery, un-encrusted surface, and cold gold pigmentation almost certainly indicate that it travelled to Tibet as an agent of the Second Dissemination. Fig.3 Vajravarahi Tibet, Kadampa Tradition Circa 1100 Ground Mineral Pigments on Cloth 72 x 50 cm (28.75 x 20 Inches) Himalayan Art Resources no.35845 Image courtesy of Walter Arader, New York 18 | BONHAMS
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 19
306 A SILVER INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF A BODHISATTVA SWAT VALLEY, CIRCA 8TH CENTURY Together with an associated backplate of the same period. Himalayan Art Resources item no.16913 5 1/8 in. (13 cm) high $40,000 - 60,000 斯瓦特 約八世紀 銅錯銀菩薩像 Full of joyful details, this sweet bronze depicts a bodhisattva musing on a tiered rocky throne in the ‘Pensive Bodhisattva’ pose. He is joined by a recumbent goat in the bottom left corner, a lion in the centre, and a kneeling devotee in the bottom right (perhaps an effigy of this icon’s ancient patron). A leafy vine grows from the rock and up the front of the throne. The bodhisattva has an idealized physique, clad in a lower garment that twists and pools with sumptuous pleats. The lotus flourishing at his right shoulder is as alert as his eyes are enlivened by silver inlay. Nestled in the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountain range, at the crossroads of the Indian Subcontinent and Central Asia, Swat Valley was an important locus for the spread of Buddhism between India, the Western Himalayas, and East Asia. Swat Valley’s small corpus of bronzes reflects an intriguing synthesis of aesthetic modes from the art of the Kushans, Guptas, and Sasanians: powerful empires which once wielded influence over the region. These bronzes also exhibit exciting precedents for the artistic schools of Kashmir, Gilgit, and Guge. This lot’s stylistic features are matched by other Swat Valley bronzes from the same period. A similar treatment of the stylized rocky base, consisting of L-shaped sections, is represented in a bronze Padmapani at the Cleveland Museum of Art (von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, pp.84-5, no.6F). His fan-shaped chignon, crown, ribbons, and diamond-shaped armbands are close to another Padmapani figure held in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (see Pal, Bronzes of Kashmir, New Delhi, 1975, pp.138-9, no.47). Also see Christie’s, New York, 23 March 1999, lot 13. The current bronze is also related to a group of 7th-8th century sculptures attributed by von Schroeder to the Zhang Zhung Kingdom of Western Tibet (Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol.II, Hong Kong, 2001, pp.782-7, nos.185-7). Known as the center of Tibet’s Bon religion, Zhang Zhung was ruled by the Tibetan Empire from the 7th to 9th centuries and Buddhism was presumably introduced from Central Tibet. Von Schroeder argues the considerable number of early Western Himalayan bronzes preserved in Tibetan Monasteries indicate that the greater Swat and Kashmir region had tremendous influence on Tibet during the first propagation of Buddhism, which also explains the stylistic resemblance between this Zhang Zhung group and contemporaneous Western Himalayan sculptures. Two bronzes from this group have a rocky base like the present lot’s, with lions, goats, and leafy plants in front (ibid., 186A & 187C). Also compare their densely pleated lower garments and sashes (ibid., 185A, C, & 186A). Provenance Bodhicitta Inc., New York, 5 February 2004 Private West Coast Collection 20 | BONHAMS
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 21
307
A COPPER ALLOY MAHAPARINIRVANA STUPA
TIBET, CIRCA 14TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.16912
12 1/8 in. (30.9 cm) high
$15,000 - 20,000
西藏 約十四世紀 大般涅槃銅佛塔
This bronze model stupa distinguishes itself from average examples
due to the precision of its casting, including the finely articulated lotus
petals around the base and below its spired parasol. The stupa also
survives in near-pristine condition with a buttery patina. Its shape was
popular among the Kadam and Kagyu orders of Tibetan Buddhism.
Examples of this scale can be seen on altar tables in front of monk-
donor figures in the bottom registers of 13th-/14th-century Tibetan
paintings (e.g. Kossak & Singer, Sacred Visions, New York, 1998,
pp.95 & 97, nos. 19-20). The interiors of these model stupas were
consecrated, either with the cremated remains of a spiritually-attained
hierarch, or with other contents blessed by a lama, making their
presence auspicious.
Compare a closely related, larger example published in Hall (ed.), Tibet:
Tradition and Change, Albuquerque, 1997, pp.158-9, pl.79b. Also see
Czaja & Proser (eds.), Golden Visions of Densatil, New York, 2014,
pp.172-3, no.45; and Sotheby’s, New York, 20 March 2001, lot 149.
Provenance
Michael Cohn Asian Art, New York, 3 February 2001
Private West Coast Collection
22 | BONHAMS308
A SILVER AND COPPER INLAID BRASS FIGURE The scale of the figure’s chignon, towering behind the crown, is
OF MANJUSHRI typical of 14th-century Western Tibetan sculptures, as are the thin
WEST TIBET, 14TH CENTURY metal struts connecting the tips of the crown leaves. These struts,
Himalayan Art Resources item no.34320 bridging the crown, ribbons, sword, and sutra, were integral to the
7 in. (17.8 cm) high casting process, allowing molten metal to fill the clay mold. Compare
the figural proportions, lotus stalks, and treatment of hair band and
$15,000 - 20,000 earrings with a 14th-century West Tibetan Amoghasiddhi published in
Thurman & Rhie, Wisdom and Compassion, New York, 1999, p.349,
藏西 十四世紀 錯銀錯紅銅文殊菩薩銅像 no.142.
With a slight lean in his upper torso, Manjushri gazes down, deep in Published
meditation. He is framed by two sinuous stems emerging from each Ashencaen, Deborah, Leonov, Gennady, and Spink & Son, Visions of
side of the lotus base, blossoming by his shoulders with Manjushri’s Perfect Worlds: Buddhist Art from the Himalayas, London, 1999, p.18,
attributes: the sword and sutra. fig.7.
Provenance
Spink and Son Ltd., London, by 1999
Christie’s, New York, 20 March 2009, lot 1354
Private West Coast Collection
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 23309 A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF LOKESHVARA PADMAPANI NEPAL, 13TH CENTURY Himalayan Art Resources item no.16915 9 3/8 in. (23.1 cm) high $100,000 - 150,000 尼泊爾 十三世紀 銅鎏金蓮華手觀音像 Avalokiteshvara, ‘The Lord who Looks upon the World’, offers a calm, benevolent gaze as his right hand adopts the gesture of granting wishes (varada mudra). The lotus at his left shoulder symbolizes every being’s potential to achieve enlightenment despite their past flaws—just as the flower rises from murky waters. Avalokiteshvara is an enlightened being who eons ago pledged to postpone his departure from the cycle of death and rebirth, with all its inherent suffering, until he has helped every other sentient being escape it first. Thus, he is a paradigm of compassion that Mahayana Buddhist practitioners aspire to emulate. Produced on a more intimate scale, this sculpture depicting Avalokiteshvara is a quintessential Newari standing bodhisattva, one of Himalayan art’s signature icons. The Newars are an ethnic group from Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley who have been transmitting their artistic expertise across generations and are renowned for being among the most accomplished artisans in Asia. Newars were frequently sought after for major artistic projects in Tibet, Mongolia, and China. There is perhaps no better hallmark of the grace and sensitivity with which the Newars cast Buddhist sculptures than their classic representation of the young and lithe standing bodhisattva, seen in this example from the 13th century. The leitmotif of the standing bodhisattva in a graceful pose, with a bare torso, supple waist, and sheer lower garment, traces back to the Gupta period (4th-6th century), India’s cultural Golden Age. A famed standing Padmapani from Sarnath in the National Museum in New Delhi exemplifies this visual idiom, which the Newars perpetuated (cf. Across the Silk Road, Beijing, 2016, pp.160-1, no.70). 24 | BONHAMS
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 25
Stylistically, the tail ends of the ribbons used to fasten Avalokiteshvara’s crown (samkhapatra), appearing above each ear, help date the sculpture to the 13th century. Vajracharya has attributed the ‘Rubin Museum Durga’ (fig.1; C2005.16.11) to this period because its ribbons are more prominent than in Newari sculptures produced before the 12th century, while being also simpler than those from the 14th century, which often display additional tassels (Vajracharya, Nepalese Seasons, New York, 2016, pp.25, 133 & 139). The Rubin Museum’s masterpiece also shares the present sculpture’s robust figural proportions and facial features— particularly an equally pronounced brow ridge. Other c.13th-century bronzes showing these features include an Uma Maheshvara in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, a Vishnu in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and a Vasudhara formerly in the Pan-Asian Collection (von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, pp.347-50, nos.89F, 90E & 91B, respectively). The 13th century marked the beginning of the enduring Malla dynasty, which reigned over the Kathmandu valley until the end of the 18th century. As Ian Alsop has summarized, “The Malla period in general was a period of overall political stability punctuated by internecine squabbles between the various principalities of the Nepal Valley. It was a time of considerable prosperity, nourished by the valley’s fertility and by a lucrative trade with Tibet and India. It was also a time of great artistic activity, and Newar artists prospered through the patronage of the devout of the Kathmandu valley, the various noble houses there, and the wealthy lamas who eagerly sought the renowned Newar artists.” (Alsop in van Alphen (ed.), Cast for Eternity, Antwerp, 2005, p.124) Provenance Doris Weiner Gallery, Madison Avenue, New York (label on base) Private Californian Collection Fig.1 Durga Killing the Buffalo Demon 13th Century Nepal Gilt copper alloy H 10 7/8 x W 13 1/8 x D 7 1/2 in. Rubin Museum of Art C2005.16.11, HAR65433 26 | BONHAMS
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 27
310 A BRASS FIGURE OF AMOGHASIDDHI TIBET, 13TH/14TH CENTURY Himalayan Art Resources item no.90566 11 1/8 in. (28.3 cm) high $40,000 - 60,000 西藏 十三/十四世紀 不空成就佛銅像 Identified by his crown and his right hand raised in the gesture of reassurance (abhaya mudra), this figure represents Buddha Amoghasiddhi, whose name translates to “Almighty Conqueror”. One of the Five Presiding Buddhas, Amoghasiddhi is revered for instructing devotees away from jealousy. The bronze is cast in an early Tibetan style of the 13th and 14th centuries that took inspiration from the Pala tradition of Northeastern India. For example, Amoghasiddhi’s tall chignon, large circular earrings, and triangular foliate armbands follow Pala models. This figure’s commanding, yet serene presence, full-bodied lotus petals with plump inner layers, and bridged crown leaves are common to other Tibetan sculptures from the period. Compare the treatment of base, jewelry, and crown to a bronze of similar scale depicting Shadakshari Lokeshvara sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 3 October 2017, lot 18. Provenance The Rezk Collection The Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Pennsylvania, deaccessioned in 2020 Concept Art Gallery, 10 June 2020, lot 26 28 | BONHAMS
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 29
311
A GILT LACQUER AND POLYCHROME WOOD PANEL The panel depicts one of the Pancha Raksha Goddesses, or “Five
WITH PROTECTOR GODDESS Protectors”. Each goddess personifies a sacred mantra that promotes
NEPAL, 13TH/14TH CENTURY the reciter’s welfare and happiness. There are countless variations in
Himalayan Art Resources item no.30869 how the Pancha Raksha are depicted; here, the goddess has the body
8 7/8 x 15 3/4 in. (22.5 x 40 cm) of an ogre with six arms and three heads, the primary head consuming
a snake, symbolizing her transmogrification of physical and spiritual
$16,000 - 22,000 poisons.
尼泊爾 十三/十四世紀 漆金彩繪守護佛母木質飾板 This panel belongs to a well-known group dispersed throughout
several institutions and private collections, the most significant
found within the David R. Nalin Collection, published in Kerin, Artful
Beneficence, New York, 2009, pp.74-9, cat. nos.41-42e. Most panels
portray a single deity framed by elaborate foliate scrolls similar to
this, and several depict Pancha Raksha Godesses. For example,
see two previously sold at Bonhams, New York, 18 March 2013, lot
148 and Bonhams, Hong Kong, 29 November 2016, lot 118.
Provenance
Plum Blossoms Gallery, Hong Kong, 2000s
Mehmet Hassan Asian Art, Bangkok
Private American Collection
30 | BONHAMS312 A THIRTY-THREE-DEITY USHNISHAVIJAYA MANDALA TIBET, NGOR MONASTERY, CIRCA 1500-50 Distemper on cloth; verso with repeated Tibetan, ‘om, ah, hum’, invocations in black ink; with original cloth mount, and original red lacquered dowel inscribed in gold Tibetan translated, ‘Ushnishavijaya with Many Deities’. Himalayan Art Resources item no.88540 Image: 50.9 x 44.2 cm (20 x 17 3/8 in.); With silks: 85.2 x 48.4 cm (33 1/2 x 19 in.) $200,000 - 300,000 西藏 俄爾寺 約1500-50年 三十三神尊勝佛母壇城唐卡 Glowing in white from the center of her celestial palace, the wisdom goddess, Ushnishavijaya, calmly smiles. She has three faces of white, yellow, and blue, the last being slightly wrathful. In her eight radiating arms she holds a lotus-borne red Amitabha, a bow and arrow, a vase of plenty, a lasso, and displays gestures of reassurance (abhaya mudra) and wish-granting (varada mudra). At the center, before her bosom, she balances a five-colored visavajra, itself a color-coordinated microcosm of her abode. Adding to the painting’s complexity, Ushnishavijaya’s palace is also inhabited by thirty-two deities, each reclining against lotus petals similar to those of sculptural mandalas (cf. Huntington, Circle of Bliss, Columbus, 2003, p.254, no.68). A ring of thirty-two petals surrounds the palace, symbolizing the purified minds of these retinue deities. Furthermore, sixteen tiny offering goddesses dance around the palace’s veranda. Its walls are decorated with garlands and streamers, while four gates are surmounted by parasols under which deer flank a Dharma-wheel – symbols of Shakyamuni’s wisdom. Beyond the palace’s protective ring, alternating figures of Amitayus and Amitabha populate the painting’s corners and top and bottom registers. Sitting in the bottom center is another figure of Ushnishavijaya; in the top center, a Sakya teacher. This mandala likely forms the final painting of a set of approximately forty-four based on the Vajravali of Abhayakaragupta (11th century). The palette is strong and vibrant, consistent with many portraits and mandalas that have survived from Ngor monastery. For example, compare with the Thirty-Two Deity Guhyasamaja mandala sold at Bonhams, New York, 17 March 2014, lot 18 that was dated by inscriptional evidence c.1520-1533. A very similar Sakya mandala of Paramasukha Chakrasamvara in the McCormick Collection is published in Leidy & Thurman, Mandala, 1997 pp.92-3. Also from Ngor monastery, it bears inscriptional evidence that dates it c.1500. Like this Ushnishavijaya mandala, it is associated with tantric practice to promote long-life. The mandala is unusual for the large size of its central figure. The painter sets Ushnishavijaya against the green, blue, and red of her immediate aureole to project her outwards like a dazzling light. The proportions allow for the fine treatment of her pale green and maroon lower garments, draped in sumptuous folds across her lap. These features are often absent at the center of more conventional mandalas of the period. A Pancharaksha Mandala of strikingly similar composition, sharing a brilliant white figure in its center, is held in the Alain Bordier Foundation (von Schroeder, Tibetan Art of the Alain Bordier Foundation, Hong Kong, 2009, pp.40-1, pl.14). Provenance Private European Collection Rossi and Rossi Ltd, London, 2001 Carlton Rochell Asian Art, New York, 2003 Private Collection, New York 32 | BONHAMS
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 33
313 A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF CUNDI (ZHUNTI GUANYIN) LATE MING/EARLY QING DYNASTY, 17TH CENTURY Himalayan Art Resources item no.16911 8 in. (20.3 cm) high $60,000 - 80,000 明末/清初 十七世紀 銅鎏金準提觀音像 Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin) is the most popularly worshipped bodhisattva in Chinese Buddhism, taking several forms. Here, in a form known as Cundi Avalokiteshvara (Zhunti Guanyin)—’The Goddess of the Seventy Million Buddhas’—the bodhisattva personifies a potent incantation called the Cundi Dharani. Her eighteen arms (sixteen of which hold implements) symbolize the eighteen paths of attaining Buddhahood as described in her incantation. Cundi is invoked to purify karma, attract resources, grant protection, and promote an auspicious rebirth. This gilt-bronze depiction is likely a rare 17th-century example created during the transition between Ming and Qing dynasties. Stylistic features of the Ming dynasty include high-waisted lower garments tied with prominent bows, crown types with large central panels rather than five equidistant leaves, and teardrop floral earrings. These features are represented by a 16th- century bronze of the same deity sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 20 March 2019, lot 686 (also see Poly Auction, Hong Kong, 2 April 2018, lot 3525). However, they have been modified with Qing-dynasty characteristics including a head and arms of more naturalistic proportions, armbands and bracelets consisting of double beaded chains mounted with a single jewel, and silks engraved with a sunflower motif. Similar are represented in a 17th-century Qing Amitayus published in Xia (ed.), Puti Miaoxiang, Liaoning, 2001, p.158, no.151. Published Philip Rawson, Sacred Tibet (Art and Imagination), Singapore, 1991, p.84. Provenance Baron von Mumins Collection, Lhasa, 1929 Philip Goldman Collection, London Sotheby’s, New York, 21 March 2002, lot 153 Private West Coast Collection 34 | BONHAMS
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 35
36 | BONHAMS
314
A GROUP OF THREE THANGKAS OF YAMA DHAMARAJA, Depicting three deities central to the Gelug order of Tibetan Buddhism,
VAJRABHAIRAVA, AND SHADBHUJA MAHAKLA these superbly drafted thangkas from the same set are full of vivid,
TIBET, 19TH CENTURY often humorous details: the buffalo underneath Yama Dhamaraja
Distemper on cloth. appears to be very concerned about Chamunda’s sharp toenails,
Himalayan Art Resources item nos.16921 & 16922 & 16923 the human figure under Vajrabhairava’s right foot is caught in a rather
27 1/2 x 18 in. (69.7 x 45.6 cm) each approx. precarious position with his rear-end exposed, and the Ganapati
crushed by Shadbhuja Mahakala seems perfectly content with his
$30,000 - 50,000 beloved radish.
西藏 十九世紀 閻魔護法、大威德金剛及六臂大黑天唐卡 Each composition is well conceived, layered with animals, lamas,
and deities in dramatic poses. The black clouds of smoke creating
outlines around the central figures of Vajrabhairava and Shadbhuja
Mahakala, as well as some of their entourage, exemplify the polished
visual devices that occur when a style reaches maturity, indicating the
thangkas were produced in the 19th century. Compare the energetic
composition with a closely related thangka of Chaturbhuja Mahakala
sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 3 October 2017, lot 28. Also see a
thangka of Vajrabhairava and another of Shadbhuja Mahakala in the
Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts (HAR 50042 & 50010).
Provenance
Ex-New Jersey Collection, c.2008
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 37315 A GILT COPPER ALLOY TRIAD OF PADMASAMBHAVA AND HIS CONSORTS, MANDARAVA AND YESHE TSOGYAL TIBET, CIRCA 16TH CENTURY Himalayan Art Resources item no.35901 11 7.8 in. (30.1 cm) high $40,000 - 60,000 西藏 約十六世紀 銅鎏金蓮花生大士與曼達拉娃及益西措嘉像 This rare ensemble pays tribute to the Indian teacher Padmasambhava, also known in Tibet as Pemajunge, meaning “the Lotus Born”. Padmasambhava is credited with introducing Buddhism in Tibet in the 8th century. He is also the root guru of the Nyingma order, who regard him as the ‘second buddha’ and maintain he planted treasure teachings (terma) throughout the Himalayas to be discovered when the world is ready. According to traditional biographies, Padmasambhava was miraculously born in the center of a lotus blossom on Lake Danakosha, which this sculpture clearly aims to visualize. He is joined by his two consorts and close disciples, each smaller and seated on a lotus flower stemming from the same root as his. His first consort, Mandarava, was a princess from Himachal Pradesh in India. His second, Yeshe Tsogyal, was from an aristocratic family in Central Tibet. Tsogyal, whose name means “Victor of the Lake”, is considered the first Tibetan to have achieved buddhahood in a single lifetime. She was also charged with hiding many of his teachings. Padmasambhava slightly tilts his head as both consorts lean their bodies towards the center, creating a harmonious image. A closely related triad of the same subject displays similar robes and broad petals (HAR 9224). A gilt bronze figure just of Padmasambhava in the Victoria and Albert Museum (IM.240-1922) also shares a similar lotus base with wide petals and plain upper rim. A larger example of the guru wears an almost identical conical hat (Sotheby’s, New York, 12 September 2018, lot 272). Also see another figure of Padmasambhava sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 26 November 2019, lot 12. Provenance Private American Collection, acquired in Hong Kong, 2010 38 | BONHAMS
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 39
316 A PAIR OF BLACKGROUND THANGKAS OF HAYAGRIVA AND VAJRAKILA TIBET, 19TH CENTURY Distemper on cloth. Himalayan Art Resources item nos.16924 & 16925 Image: 14 1/8 x 11 in. (35.8 x 27.8 cm), the Hevajra; Image: 13 1/2 x 11 3/8 in. (34.4 x 28.8 cm), the Vajrakila $12,000 - 16,000 西藏 十九世紀 馬頭明王及普巴金剛黑唐卡 This pair of blackground thankgas depicting the meditational deities (yidams) Hayagriva and Vajrakila are excellent examples of the 19th century. The artist skillfully achieves complex forms and spatial relations with a restrained use of line and shading. He renders the many arms, legs, and faces of each deity with confidence. He paints the hair of each central figure with fine, parallel lines in gold, and applies the same technique to the flames around them, but with fainter brushstrokes so as to create the illusion of their receeding into the background. Compare with other 19th-century blackground thangkas at the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, of Vajrakila (P1996.20.25; HAR379), Maning Mahakala (P1995.25.3, HAR208), and Panjarnata Mahakala (F1997.3.5, HAR70). Provenance Ex-New Jersey Collection, c.2008 40 | BONHAMS
317 A CAST AND REPOUSSÉ GILT COPPER ALLOY SHRINE TO MANJUVAJRA NEPAL, 17TH/18TH CENTURY Himalayan Art Resources item no.16920 8 3/8 in. (21.3 cm) high $130,000 - 180,000 尼泊爾 十七/十八世紀 銅鎏金文殊金剛像 This distinctive shrine invokes Manjuvajra, an esoteric form of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Transcendent Wisdom. With three heads and six arms, he crosses his principal hands at the chest, embracing his consort Prajna, and signalling a perfect union of Wisdom and Compassion. Both male and female deities brandish long swords in their top right hands, creating a powerful image of their ability to dispel ignorance and delusion. Manjuvajra’s remaining three arms hold a lotus, a bow, and an arrow, common attributes for wisdom deities. Manjuvajra’s physical appearance is described in the Nishpannayogavali (‘Garland of Perfection Yoga’), a Vajrayana iconographical treatise from the Pala period. The earliest known sculptures of the deity date to the 11th/12th century: see two Pala examples preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including a black stone stele (57.51.6) and a small bronze figure (L.2017.31.1). The shrine’s pedestal has an ornate façade symbolizing Manjuvajra rising from the ocean of existence on the ‘sun disc’ of a lotus. A robust central stem bifurcates with vines encircling a pair of lions, which are often shown guarding the thrones of Buddhist deities. The formal depiction of both motifs can be traced back to the Pala art of medieval Northeastern India, testifying to Nepalese art’s remarkable conservatism. For example, compare the treatment of the vines or the two outward-facing lions with their tails whipped over their backs with several Pala stone sculptures published in Huntington, Leaves from the Bodhi Tree, Dayton, 1990, nos.4, 6, 13, 15 & 36-8. Similar elements were incorporated into the base of a large gilt bronze Buddha from the Khasa Malla kingdom sold at Bonhams, New York, 19 March 2018, lot 3019. A gilt bronze figure of Chakrasamvara, dated 1709, has a similar compact scale, crown type, and bangles (von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p.386, no.105B). Elaborate flaming repoussé aureoles are common to Nepalese sculptures of the 17th and 18th century (ibid., pp.390-1, nos.107B-D). Also see a contemporaneous but smaller bronze of Manjuvajra with consort preserved in the Norton Simon Museum of Art, Pasadena (Pal, Art from the Himalayas and China, New Haven, 2003, p.99, no.64). Provenance Ex-Private French Collection, 1980s 42 | BONHAMS
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 43
Ronald Garrigues, Artist and Collector
318
From a young age, Ron Garrigues had an eye for beauty and an A BRASS FIGURE OF THE SECOND ABBOT OF NGOR
interest in Asian art. After his first trip to Nepal in 1979, trekking to MONASTERY, MUCHEN KONCHOG GYALTSEN
remote villages and monasteries, he began a long career of studying CENTRAL TIBET, 15TH/16TH CENTURY
Buddhism and collecting Buddhist art. This took him back to Nepal, as A Tibetan inscription at the bottom of the lotus base, translated,
well as India, Japan, and China, and brought him in contact with Asian ‘Homage to Muchen Konchog Gyaltsen!’
art dealers and fellow collectors. The two works offered in this catalog Himalayan Art Resources item no.16916
from his estate, and several more in our adjoining online sale, attest to treasuryoflives.org bio no.1898
Ron’s keen eye and sense for distinctive pieces. An artist himself, Ron 7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm) high
Garrigues work can be viewed at: www.rongarrigues.com.
$10,000 - 15,000
藏中 十五/十六世紀 俄爾寺第二任住持慕千袞就堅贊銅像
Executed in the Tsang sculptural style of Central Tibet, the figure
is identified by inscription as the Sakya teacher Muchen Konchog
Gyaltsen (1388-1469), the second abbot (Khenchen) of Ngor
monastery. He was an immediate disciple of the order’s founder,
Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo (1382-1456), who Gyaltsen helped establish
in 1430. See another Central Tibetan bronze of the teacher (HAR
8730).
Provenance
Estate of Ronald Garrigues (1930-2020), California, by 1990s
44 | BONHAMS319
A BLACKSTONE STELE OF BUDDHA The sculpture’s figural suppleness and its relatively simple, unpolished
NORTHEASTERN INDIA, BIHAR, PALA PERIOD, back panel follow stylistic conventions of 9th-/10th-century Buddhist
9TH/10TH CENTURY steles produced in Bihar at famous pilgrimage sites, such as Nalanda
Himalayan Art Resources item no.16926 and Bodh Gaya. Compare other 9th-century steles depicting the
10 1/2 in. (26.5 cm) high Buddha in Huntington, The Pala-Sena Schools of Sculpture, Vol.II,
Leiden, 1984, nos.42 & 103.
$10,000 - 15,000
Provenance
印度東北部 比哈爾邦 帕拉時期 九/十世紀 黑石佛陀像 Estate of Ronald Garrigues (1930-2020), California, by 1990s
Under the bodhi tree, Buddha is at the moment of realizing
enlightenment, with his right hand reaching down in bhumisparsha
mudra, calling the Earth to witness it. He sits on a thin cushion of
rosettes spaced by blank cartouches above a double-lotus platform.
The back panel frames his broad physique with arching pearl and
flame borders.
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 45320
A COPPER ALLOY HEAD OF BUDDHA
THAILAND, SUKHOTHAI PERIOD, CIRCA 1350-1400
21 5/8 in. (59.4 cm) high
$15,000 - 20,000
泰國 素可泰王國時期 約1350-1400年 銅佛首
This sizable head portrays Buddha’s serenity and “classic”
Sukhothai elements. With heavy-lidded eyes gazing
downwards in blissful contemplation, his arched brow
gives rise to a beaked nose, beneath which a gentle
smile plays out across his lips. His fleshy jowls are framed
by pendulous earlobes, while his short curls are well-
articulated in symmetrical arrangement over his dome
and ushnisha. A flame surmounts his crown, a beacon
of his enlightened consciousness. Compare two other
“classic” Sukhothai examples in the Walters Museum of
Art, attributed to the second half of the 14th century, and
displaying similarly treated nasal bridges, recessed lips,
and upswept eyes (Woodward, The Sacred Sculpture of
Thailand, 1997, pp.154 & 156, figs.155 & 157).
Provenance
Private Collection, London, 1970s-2013
46 | BONHAMS321 A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA THAILAND, SUKHOTHAI PERIOD, CIRCA 1350-1400 39 1/4 in. (99.8 cm) high $40,000 - 60,000 泰國 素可泰王國時期 約1350-1400年 佛陀銅像 It is easy to mistake this Sukhothai Standing Buddha for one of the kingdom's famous Walking Buddhas, such is the movement created by the sweep of the robe about his legs. The Buddha stands erect with his left hand raised in a gesture of reassurance, his face projecting an air of quiet authority beneath a tall flame rising from his ushnisha like a beacon of his enlightened consciousness. An example of the prized Sukhothai style, this bronze has an excellent pedigree. In the mid- 1960s, it was purchased by a U.S. diplomat on the advice of Rene-Yvon d'Argence (the late Director Emeritus of the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco) from Peng Seng (the eminent Thai art and antiques dealer). Peng Seng's clients were primarily members of the Thai royal family before a growing number of foreigners began to appreciate Thai Buddhist art. The bronze was later exhibited at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco in the 1980s. Translated as "Dawn of Happiness", the Sukhothai kingdom's reign lasted for 200 years and is now regarded as the Thai Golden Age. Having wrested power from the Khmers, the Sukhothai rulers endeavored to cease production of Buddha images in the Khmer style and develop a new, uniquely Thai aesthetic. With the assistance of Singhalese Theravadan monks, they adhered to textual prescriptions in ancient Pali treatises (shastras). Composed as similes, among Buddha's signs of greatness (mahalakshanas), he has a nose "like a parrot's beak", a chin "like a mango stone", his long and sinuous arms "like the trunk of a young elephant", and his elegant hands "like a lotus bud opening". Their efforts yielded a beautiful Thai image informed by poetry. The present bronze's features compare closely to a "classic" Sukhothai masterpiece held in the Ramkhamhaeng National Museum, Sukhothai, and an oft-published red-lacquered and gilded bronze in the National Museum, Bangkok (see Stratton, Buddhist Sculptures of Northern Thailand, Bangkok, 2004, p.165, fig.7.8; and National Museum Volunteers Group, Treasures from the National Museum, Bangkok, 2010, p.35, no.54; respectively). Also compare the elegant upswept eyes and recessed lips of a Buddha attributed to the second half of the 14th century in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (Woodward, The Sacred Sculpture of Thailand, 1997, p.154, fig.155). Provenance Peng Seng, Bangkok Collection of Mark S. Pratt, Washington, D.C, acquired from the above between 1963-1968 On long term loan to the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, early 1980s-1989 48 | BONHAMS
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