An important bronze figure of Ushnishavijaya

CENTRAL TIBET, CIRCA 1200

細節

An important bronze figure of Ushnishavijaya
Central Tibet, circa 1200
The eight-armed goddess of Longevity seated in dhyanasana on a shaped plinth, holding a vishvavajra and a noose in her principal hands, her remaining radiating hands holding an image of Buddha Amitabha, an arrow, a bow and a vessel containing the Elixir of Immortality, wearing a long dhoti inlaid in silver and copper with bands of diamond-shaped florets within beaded borders, a multi-stranded necklace with pendent jewels and corresponding armbands and bracelets, her three distinct faces with neutral, benign, and ferocious expressions with eyes inlaid in silver and lips in copper, the third ferocious face with bared fangs and bulging eyes, all with disk earrings and surmounted by tiered crowns, the jewelry overall elaborately inlaid in silver and copper and inset with semi-precious stones
6.3/8 in. (16.2 cm.) high

拍品專文

For a closely related figure of Sitatapatra, see M. Henss, "Early Tibetan Sculpture," in P. Pal (ed.), On the Path to Void, Buddhist Art of the Tibetan Realm, 1996, cat. no. 18, p. 116, likely attributable to the same workshop. This rare type, with the unusual tiered crown and elaborate jewelry, also relates to the image of an eight-armed goddess in a 13th century thanka of 'Four deities' in the Fournier collection, see G. Bguin, Art sotrique de l'Himlaya, 1990, fig. 3, p. 22. The present example is exceptional in quality of workmanship and extensive use of inlay.