A GILT COPPER FIGURE OF SURYANEPAL, CIRCA 10TH CENTURY
With remains of blue pigment in the hair and cold gold in recessed areas of the neck and face.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.16714
11.6 cm (4 1/2 in.) high 注脚Wearing ankle-high boots and holding two fully-blossomed lotuses, this sweet figure represents the ancient Vedic Sun God, Surya. A Brahmanical cord representing a sacred thread hangs from his left shoulder to his right knee. According to van Alphen, the small loop created over the sash around the hips is a datable stylistic feature in c.10th-century Nepalese sculpture (see Bonhams, Hong Kong, 29 November 2016, lot 111). A closely related bronze of Vishnu in the Jokhang, Lhasa displays the cord similarly (see von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Hong Kong, 2001, p.490, no.156A). And a c.10th-century Nepalese bronze in the Potala Palace has a similar base to this cheery Surya (ibid., p.482, no.152A-B).

Provenance
Carlton Rochell Asian Art, New York, March 2018


銅鎏金太陽神像
尼泊爾，約十世紀
頭髮處存留藍色顏料，面部與頸部凹陷處存留泥金。
喜馬拉雅藝術資源網16714號
高11.6釐米（4 1/2英吋）

200,000 – 300,000港幣

太陽神源自印度早期的吠陀文明，此處其足蹬踝靴，手持盛放蓮花，氣質溫雅。一根「婆羅門聖線」自其左肩垂下，穿過腰帶並繞於右膝，呈現出柔和的動感。根據學者van Alphen之研究，聖線於髖部飾帶處下垂形成的圓弧狀為尼泊爾十世紀左右造像的特有風格特徵（參見邦瀚斯，香港，2016年11月29日，拍品111）。一尊拉薩大昭寺所藏毗湿奴銅像帶有類似聖線，可資比較（見馮·施羅德，《西藏佛教造像》，香港，2001年，頁490，編號156A）。布達拉宮所藏一件十世紀尼泊爾造像之蓮花座亦與本拍品的底座緊密相關（來源同上，頁482，編號152A-B）。

來源
Carlton Rochell Asian Art，紐約，2018年3月