TIBET, CIRCA 15TH CENTURY

Details

A rare bronze figure of Tara
Tibet, circa 15th Century
Very finely cast seated in dhyanasana over a double-lotus base, her hands held in varada and vitarka mudras and with silver and copper inlaid eyes in her palms, wearing a diaphanous dhoti with a fluidly incised floral pattern, the face with a benign expression with copper lips and her three eyes inlaid in silver and copper, surmounted by a foliate tiara and flanked by lotus flowers on either side, base sealed with a copper plate
7 in. (17.7. cm.) high

Provenance

Von Schroeder Collection, before 2000

Lot Essay

Revered for her capacity to perceive the suffering of her faithful and to respond compassionately, Tara is here endowed with seven eyes, a third eye on the forehead and on each palm and sole. They have been highlighted by the artist by employing silver and copper inlay. These details as well as the incised floral patterns are superbly executed. A light metal alloy was chosen likely to assimilate the light body color of the 'White Tara'.
For a similar use of inlay, compare with a figure of Akshobya in the Berti Aschmann Collection at the Museum Rietberg Zurich, see H. Uhlig, On the Path to Enlightenment, 1995, p. 70f.

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