A gilt bronze figure of Tara

TIBET, 16TH CENTURY

Details

A gilt bronze figure of Tara
Tibet, 16th Century
Seated in lalitasana on a double-lotus base with her right hand in varadamudra and her left raised in vitarkamudra, both holding the stem of a lotus blossoming at the shoulders, dressed in an ankle-length dhoti incised with a foliate pattern and adorned with various jewelry inset with hardstones, the face with bow-shaped mouth and downcast eyes centered by a raised urna and surmounted by a foliate tiara, the hair in a conical chignon topped with a jewel
4¾ in. (12 cm.) high

Provenance

Collection of R. Perret, France, acquired in Hong Kong, 1980s
Private Collection, France, acquired from the above, 3 May 1988

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Lot Essay

The goddess Syamatara (also called Green Tara) is the female Buddha of enlightenment energy who offered herself to the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara, in the service of freeing all sentient beings from cyclic existence (samsara). In art Syamatara can be represented as a central figure surrounded by one thousand and eight miniature replications of herself, which signify the innumerable ways the goddess manifests in the world for the purpose of leading beings along the path to liberation (for a painted example see G. Mullin, Female Buddhas, 2003, p.60); the present example was likely one such figure.

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