A repousse gilt bronze figure of Bhairava

A GILT COPPER REPOUSSE FIGURE OF BHAIRAVA

NEPAL, CIRCA 16TH CENTURY

Details

A GILT COPPER REPOUSSE FIGURE OF BHAIRAVA
Nepal, circa 16th century
Striding in alidhasana holding a shield, skull cup, and the hilt of a weapon in his four arms, dressed in a festooned beaded skirt and a shirt of scales, adorned with various necklaces and a garland of severed heads, the face with wrathful expression, the three eyes bulging, crowned with a flaming tiara with nagas, foliate blossoms, and a crescent moon, the hair pulled into a high chignon and secured with a finial
15 in. (38.1 cm.) high

Provenance

Doris Wiener Gallery, New York, 1968

Exhibited

Doris Wiener Gallery, New York, circa 1979

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Lot Essay

As the wrathful manifestation of Shiva, Bhairava is a popular deity in Nepal, and is easily identified here by the crescent moon in the figure's diadem. The loop and two brackets at his back, as well as the angle of the feet, indicate that this figure would have leant forward and would probably have been viewed from below. For a comparable example with a similar aesthetic device, see P. Pal, The Arts of Nepal, vol. I, 1974, cat. no. 152.

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