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Lot Essay
Although carried out in a somewhat idiosyncratic style, the present figure, with its upright posture, attenuated features, and ornate incised decoration, shares many stylistic characteristics with gilt-bronze Buddhist sculpture from the areas of Inner Mongolia outside the Qing capital of Beijing. The monastery of Dolonnor in particular was well-established as an important centre for the production of Buddhist metal sculpture. The site was purposefully built not far from Shangdu (Xanadu), the old thirteenth century summer capital of Kublai Khan. The Mongolian lama, master artist, and leader of the Khalka Mongols, Zanabazar, formally assimilated his khanate into the Qing Empire before the Kangxi Emperor at Dolonnor in 1691. It continued to be an important bronze image foundry even into the late nineteenth century, as noted by the Russian explorer Nikolay Przhevalsky on one of his expeditions to Mongolia in the 1870s (N. Przhevalsky, Mongolia, London, 1876, p. 105).
Metal images from Dolonnor are typically produced using the repoussé technique, whereby thin metal is beaten over a mold, and several smaller parts would be joined together with rivets. The present figure is particularly rare for it being cast, rather than carried out in repoussé. Compare with another gilt-bronze figure of Tara, attributed to Dolonnor, sold at Christie’s New York, 20 March 2019, lot 674; both the present figure and the New York example were cast in a few pieces and ingeniously joined along hidden seams. The two figures also share similar facial features, including deeply-arched brows, long, thin noses, and short, bow-shaped mouths. While the robes of the dhoti of the present figure are somewhat more naturalistic than the heavy, rhythmic folds of the New York example, both are ornately incised along the hems.
Metal images from Dolonnor are typically produced using the repoussé technique, whereby thin metal is beaten over a mold, and several smaller parts would be joined together with rivets. The present figure is particularly rare for it being cast, rather than carried out in repoussé. Compare with another gilt-bronze figure of Tara, attributed to Dolonnor, sold at Christie’s New York, 20 March 2019, lot 674; both the present figure and the New York example were cast in a few pieces and ingeniously joined along hidden seams. The two figures also share similar facial features, including deeply-arched brows, long, thin noses, and short, bow-shaped mouths. While the robes of the dhoti of the present figure are somewhat more naturalistic than the heavy, rhythmic folds of the New York example, both are ornately incised along the hems.