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Lot Essay
Shadakshari Lokeshvara, one of the thirty-one forms of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, is the physical embodiment of the ubiquitous mantra 'om mani padme hum.' This six-syllable mantra is believed to unlock a path to enlightenment, making Shadakshari Lokeshvara a prominent and highly-revered figure in Tibetan tantric Buddhism.
Copper alloy depictions of this manifestation of Avalokiteshvara were particularly prized and significant ritual tools in central Tibet's Tsang province during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The present example encapsulates the specific style that developed in the Tsang region at this time: a brassy, non-gilded finish, a square face with accentuated smile, intricately incised decoration of the high crown, robes, and jewelry, and a double-lotus pedestal featuring large, rounded petals. The style, specifically the refined jewelry and use of lotus petals, was heavily influenced by the imperial Yongle (1403-1424) court, representing a wider cultural exchange between the Tibetan lamas and the Yongle emperor who strongly promoted Tibetan Buddhism as a means to gain political legitimacy, religious merit, and positive diplomatic relations. The result was an amalgam of Chinese artistic style and Tibetan religious tradition, well exemplified by bronze and copper alloy depictions of deities from the Tsang province.
Figures which similarly embody the unique fifteenth and sixteenth-cenutry Tsangri style have sold recently, including a silver and copper-inlaid brass figure of Maitreya from the Claude de Marteau Collection, in Bonhams, Hong Kong, 6 October 2023, lot 24 and a figure of Vajradhara, also of silver and copper-inlaid brass, in Bonhams, Hong Kong, 1 December 2023, lot 1840.
Copper alloy depictions of this manifestation of Avalokiteshvara were particularly prized and significant ritual tools in central Tibet's Tsang province during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The present example encapsulates the specific style that developed in the Tsang region at this time: a brassy, non-gilded finish, a square face with accentuated smile, intricately incised decoration of the high crown, robes, and jewelry, and a double-lotus pedestal featuring large, rounded petals. The style, specifically the refined jewelry and use of lotus petals, was heavily influenced by the imperial Yongle (1403-1424) court, representing a wider cultural exchange between the Tibetan lamas and the Yongle emperor who strongly promoted Tibetan Buddhism as a means to gain political legitimacy, religious merit, and positive diplomatic relations. The result was an amalgam of Chinese artistic style and Tibetan religious tradition, well exemplified by bronze and copper alloy depictions of deities from the Tsang province.
Figures which similarly embody the unique fifteenth and sixteenth-cenutry Tsangri style have sold recently, including a silver and copper-inlaid brass figure of Maitreya from the Claude de Marteau Collection, in Bonhams, Hong Kong, 6 October 2023, lot 24 and a figure of Vajradhara, also of silver and copper-inlaid brass, in Bonhams, Hong Kong, 1 December 2023, lot 1840.