NEPAL, 13TH CENTURY

Elegantly modeled, this large figure of Buddha is comparable to a seated figure from the same period; see U. von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculpture in Tibet Vol. 1: India and Nepal, 2001, pp.522-523, fig.170c. Compare the robust chest, covered in a simple sanghati gathered in fine undulating folds at his shoulder and bordered by an incised scroll border with beaded rims. Both have tapered waists and fleshy abdomens. The arms are rounded and elongated and the legs gracefully folded in padmasana. The faces are square-shaped with elongated downcast eyes centered by an urna. Each of the protruding, elongated ears are decorated with a single flower and the hair is neatly arranged in tight curls rising to a domed ushnisha. While von Schroeder notes that the comparable sculpture “was either imported from Nepal or is the work of Newar craftsmen in Tibet,” the modeling of the belly and the single flower above each ear suggests the influence of eleventh-century Kashmiri prototypes from Western Tibet (ibid., pp.152-166, fig.40B-47B). The adaptation of these early features illustrates the cross-pollination of artistic styles that spanned centuries. The present sculpture exemplifies the ability of the Newar artist to translate these earlier features into a distinctly Newar style, while the size suggests it was an important commission.