Mongolia, Zanabazar School, 17th century

The Zanabazar school of art was founded by Jebtsundamba Khutuktu Zanabazar (1635-1723), a direct descendent of Genghis Khan and one of the most beloved religious leaders and respected master artists of Mongolia. The school is characterized by richly gilded imagery with finely modeled, smoothly sloping contours and precise, often beaded embellishments, as displayed in the present work. The scholar and conservator Giles Beguin writes; “Zanabazar possessed an in-depth knowledge of the techniques of casting, decorating and gilding, and all his newly founded communities were equipped with a complete set of gilt-metal sculptures, sometimes of rather large size” (A. & F. Rossi, Treasures from Mongolia: Buddhist Sculpture from the school of Zanabazar, London, 2005). Compare with another Zanabazar bronze which sold at Christie’s New York on 15 March 2016 for $161,000 (lot 243).