NEPAL OR TIBET, 16TH CENTURY

Shadakshari Lokeshvara is the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara, in his role as the lord of the six realms of existence— hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, demigods, and gods. In the present bronze, two figures flanking Shadakshari wear unusual eye coverings with versatile benefits. The eye shades used in the Himalayas were typically made from thick or thin horse hair which protected wearers from the harsh glare of the sun off of the high snowy mountains or from eye strain while scholars worked for hours on written texts. The figure at proper right is perhaps Jamyang Lodro Senggye, a Drukpa Kagyu lama of the fourteenth century. Compare the figure with a sixteenth-century bronze of the lama who wears a similar cap with inlaid stones, illustrated on Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 65407.