A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF PADMAPANI 


WESTERN TIBET, 13TH CENTURYHimalayan Art Resources item no.61910 9 7/8 in. (25 cm) high
|藏西 十三世紀 蓮華手菩薩銅像 This exemplar of perfected enlightenment steps forward with a benign smile and making the gesture of reassurance with his right hand (abhaya mudra). A lotus scales the Bodhisattva's left side and blooms by his shoulder, turning inwards as if to whisper in his ear. Stylistically, this sculpture belongs to group of 11th-13th century early bronzes produced in Western Tibet, inspired by even earlier Indian models, particularly from neighboring Kashmir. Other examples include an Avalokiteshvara formerly in the Robert Hatfield Ellsworth Collection (see Rhie & Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion, New York, 1996, pp.136-7, no.28), a Manjushri sold at Sotheby's, London, 11 October 1990, lot 34, and a 13th-century Avalokiteshvara published in Hall (ed.), Tibet: Tradition and Change, Albuquerque, 1997, pp.90-1, no.45. Provenance Private Asian Collection, acquired in Hong Kong, 1990