A SILVER COPPER AND GOLD INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF SITATAPATRA
A SILVER COPPER AND GOLD INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF SITATAPATRA
A SILVER COPPER AND GOLD INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF SITATAPATRA
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A SILVER COPPER AND GOLD INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF SITATAPATRA
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A SILVER COPPER AND GOLD INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF SITATAPATRA

TIBET, 13TH CENTURY

Details
A SILVER COPPER AND GOLD INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF SITATAPATRA
TIBET, 13TH CENTURY
6 3⁄4 in. (17.1 cm.) high
Provenance
Sotheby’s New York, 30 November 1994, lot 84
Private Swiss Collection

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Edward Wilkinson
Edward Wilkinson Global Head of Department

Lot Essay

This exquisitely cast bronze depicts Sitatapatra, the “White Parasol” goddess, in her most essential and iconic form, rendered with remarkable refinement and technical mastery. Seated in vajrasana, she radiates calm authority and protective strength, qualities central to her role in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism as a powerful female protector deity (dharmapala).

She is shown here in her peaceful aspect with a single face and two arms, her right hand raised in abhaya mudra, the gesture of protection and fearlessness, while her left hand delicately holds the shaft of a white parasol, the symbol from which she derives her name. The parasol (Sitatapatra), traditionally represents spiritual shelter from harmful forces, both worldly and supernatural. A distinctive third eye is modelled at the center of her forehead, indicating her omniscient awareness and vigilance.

The goddess is adorned with elegant jewellery inlaid with gold, silver, and copper, including foliate armbands, hoop earrings, a prominent central -leaf tiara, and a beaded girdle- even her toenails and fingernails are inlaid with copper. Her sash and diaphanous dhoti are rendered with fine chased detailing that glimmers against the darker brass, following the Pala sculptural tradition of eastern India, which had a profound influence on Tibetan art from the 11th through 13th centuries.

The serene, oval face with bow-shaped lips, elongated eyes, and softly arched brows is characteristic of the post-Pala idiom carried into early Tibetan ateliers. In a variation from the Pala fashion her hair is twisted in a long strand at the back and gathered in a bun ornamented with flowers resting on her left shoulder. The surface is smooth and well-preserved, with traces of ritual use enhancing its devotional aura.

Sitatapatra, often regarded as an emanation of either Tara or Avalokiteshvara, is invoked in esoteric practice to ward off obstacles, calamities, and malevolent forces. In this pared-down two-armed form, she was likely used in individual tantric meditation practices, as well as placed on personal or monastic altars for protection.

This figure of Sitatapatra is likely from the same set or atelier as a Ushnishavijaya that shares the same expansive use of silver and copper inlay, jewels and shallow plain cushion base, see Christie’s, New York, September 1998, lot 98. Another closely related figure of of Sitatapatra is slightly more restrained with inlays but share many physical features, see Henss 'Early Tibetan sculpture' in Pal, On The Path to Void, Buddhist Art of the Tibetan Realm, 1996, cat, no. 18, p. 116, and is also likely attributable to the same workshop.

Sitatapatra in this refined, seated form reflects a unique balance between esoteric potency and aesthetic harmony, as a compelling example of early Tibetan bronze sculpture rooted in the Pala legacy, yet bearing the hallmarks of a distinct Himalayan devotional language.

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