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Lot Essay
Green Tara, the most beloved female bodhisattva of the Buddhist pantheon, is revered as the swift saviour who rescues devotees from worldly dangers and guides them toward liberation from the cycle of rebirth. According to Buddhist tradition, she arose from the tears shed by Avalokiteshvara in response to the suffering of sentient beings, embodying the boundless compassion of her spiritual progenitor. In the present sculpture, this compassionate nature is most eloquently expressed through her open right hand extended in varada mudra, the gesture of generosity and benevolence.
The goddess is portrayed with a graceful elegance characteristic of Nepalese sculpture of the Malla period. Seated in royal ease, she is adorned with princely ornaments and a distinctive close-fitting bodice intricately incised with rows of circular roundels. This unusual decorative feature is encountered on a select group of Malla-period bronzes, notably in the patterned sash of a standing Tara illustrated by Pal (Nepal: Where the Gods Are Young, 1975, pp. 54-55, fig. 38). While comparatively rare in sculpture, such textile patterns occur more frequently in paintings executed by Nepalese artists working for Tibetan patrons, including the celebrated fourteenth-century Jataka of the Dancer murals at Shalu Monastery, where similarly ornamented garments contribute to the richness of the compositions.
The figure's refined yet restrained ornamentation further distinguishes it within the corpus of Nepalese bronzes. The low-profile crown, elegant jewellery, and simplified lotus blossoms rising beside the shoulders create a harmonious and balanced composition that emphasizes the deity's serene beauty rather than excessive decorative display. These features find particularly close parallels in a Green Tara preserved in the Foundation Alain Bordier and exhibited at the Tibet Museum, Gruyères (ABS 356), which shares the same understated crown type and floral motifs.
Stylistically, the sculpture belongs to a distinguished group of Nepalese images dating to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Comparable representations of Tara include examples sold at Bonhams, New York, 22 March 2022, lot 305, and Christie's, New York, 13 March 2011, lot 307, as well as the related figure published by von Schroeder in Buddhist Sculpture in Tibet, Volume Two: Tibet and China (Hong Kong, 2001, p. 1106, pl. 288A). Together, these works attest to the enduring appeal of a sculptural tradition that united technical refinement, elegant restraint, and profound devotional significance.
The goddess is portrayed with a graceful elegance characteristic of Nepalese sculpture of the Malla period. Seated in royal ease, she is adorned with princely ornaments and a distinctive close-fitting bodice intricately incised with rows of circular roundels. This unusual decorative feature is encountered on a select group of Malla-period bronzes, notably in the patterned sash of a standing Tara illustrated by Pal (Nepal: Where the Gods Are Young, 1975, pp. 54-55, fig. 38). While comparatively rare in sculpture, such textile patterns occur more frequently in paintings executed by Nepalese artists working for Tibetan patrons, including the celebrated fourteenth-century Jataka of the Dancer murals at Shalu Monastery, where similarly ornamented garments contribute to the richness of the compositions.
The figure's refined yet restrained ornamentation further distinguishes it within the corpus of Nepalese bronzes. The low-profile crown, elegant jewellery, and simplified lotus blossoms rising beside the shoulders create a harmonious and balanced composition that emphasizes the deity's serene beauty rather than excessive decorative display. These features find particularly close parallels in a Green Tara preserved in the Foundation Alain Bordier and exhibited at the Tibet Museum, Gruyères (ABS 356), which shares the same understated crown type and floral motifs.
Stylistically, the sculpture belongs to a distinguished group of Nepalese images dating to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Comparable representations of Tara include examples sold at Bonhams, New York, 22 March 2022, lot 305, and Christie's, New York, 13 March 2011, lot 307, as well as the related figure published by von Schroeder in Buddhist Sculpture in Tibet, Volume Two: Tibet and China (Hong Kong, 2001, p. 1106, pl. 288A). Together, these works attest to the enduring appeal of a sculptural tradition that united technical refinement, elegant restraint, and profound devotional significance.