A very rare and large parcel-gilt bronze figure of White Tara


Tibet, circa 12th/13th centuryThe deity exquisitely cast in the round, seated in vajrasana with the upper body curving elegantly, her right arm resting on her right knee with the hand in charity giving varada mudra, the left hand raised with thumb and middle finger touching, adorned in a simple dhoti and elaborate beaded jewellery, the serene face with a gentle smile painted in cold gold beneath a high tiara inlaid with turquoise. 44.5cm (17 1/4in) high.
|西藏約十二世紀/十三世紀 局部鎏金銅白度母像 Provenance: A & J Speelman Oriental Art Ltd., LondonExhibited, Published and Illustrated: M.M.Grewenig and E.Rist, Buddha: 2000 Years of Buddhist Art, 232 Masterpieces, Völklinger Hütte, 2016, pp.372-373來源： 倫敦古董商史博曼藝術藏品館展覽、出版及著錄：M.M.Grewenig及E.Rist著，《Buddha: 2000 Years of Buddhist Art, 232 Masterpieces》，薩爾弗爾克林根，2016年， 頁372-373The present lot with its sensuously curved body cast in the round, with no opening into the figure from underneath, is extremely rare not only for its aesthetic beauty encapsulating the high level of craftsmanship achieved in 12th/13th century Tibet, but also for exhibiting certain traits before fixed iconographic conventions had emerged. Firstly, the figure would have been holding a lotus stem, now lost, between the middle finger and her thumb. Later iconography of White Tara, however, usually depicts the deity holding the lotus stem between her ring finger and thumb. Secondly, this early figure follows more closely Indian iconography before the introduction of the Tibetan innovations of five additional eyes (on the forehead, palms and soles of the feet). Of the two originally Indian traditions of depicting White Tara known in Tibet (both without depicting the additional five eyes) one is the tradition of Atisha, the other of Bari Lotsawa. The Atisha tradition depicts Tara with a curved body, while the Bari tradition depicts Tara with a straight upper body. The present lot therefore follows the Atisha tradition. A related but larger (64.5cm high) bronze figure of a crowned Ratnasambhava, circa 1300, is illustrated by U.von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculpture in Tibet, vol.II, Hong Kong, 2001, p.1131, fig.XVIII-4. The similar curve of the upper body can be found on another bronze statue of Avalokiteshvara, Tibet, 12th century, illustrated by M.M.Rhie and R.A.F.Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, New York, 1996, p.138, no.29.