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Lot Essay
The finely cast gilt-copper alloy figure of Akshobhya Buddha stands as a unique example of Khasa Malla art. Seated in vajrasana on a heavily delineated double-lotus base and displaying the earth-touching bhumisparsha mudra, this sculpture represents an exceptionally rare apex of the metalwork tradition generated under the Khasa Malla kingdom. Images of Akshobhya and the Crowned Buddha are frequently confused due to their similar appearance with crown and earth-touching mudra, but in this instance the addition of the necklace, armbands, and bracelets identifies this image as the former. This Akshobhya adopts much of its aesthetics from canonical examples from Pala Period India, while integrating them within regional styles of the Kathmandu Valley and areas of western Nepal.
An early tenth century Pala period example depicts Tatagatha Akshobhya (U. von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981, p. 269, no. 62E). Although this figure does not wear a sanghati, he wears a crown, necklace, armbands, and bracelets. Several other Bihar examples portray the Tatagatha also wearing bias-draped robes in addition to the jeweled ornamentation and positioned in the earth-touching mudra (ibid, 1981, p. 273, no. 64B and 64E). These iconographic and visual traditions were largely adopted into Nepal and Tibet, and relying heavily on these Pala period models, Newari artists largely proliferated this style across the Himalayas.
Ruling across the Karnali Basin of Western Nepal and Western Tibet from the twelfth to the mid-fourteenth century, the Khasa Mallas were a powerful ruling family. Though they regularly engaged in territorial rivalries and launched destructive raids against the Mallas of the Kathmandu Valley, they were concurrently devout Buddhists. Their kingdom served as a crucial geographic and cultural highway across the high passes. Leveraging their immense wealth and political dominance, Khasa Malla kings actively imported talent, inviting master Newar artists from the Kathmandu Valley to establish permanent royal workshops in the western middle hills. The resulting syncretic tradition left an indelible, highly recognizable signature on thirteenth and fourteenth-century bronze casting.
Rather than remaining a passive imitation of Kathmandu Valley styles, the Khasa Malla baseline was actively reconfigured into a pronounced, highly confident regional syntax. The artists retained the foundational Newari mastery of organic, well-nourished proportions, a fleshy torso expanding with yogic breath (prana), and warm, high-copper alloys heavily overlaid with pure gold. However, the Khasa Malla workshops codified these elements into an entirely original visual vocabulary. This distinct regional style is defined by the red painted surface behind the throne back, the lower and further spaced leaves of the crown, and eyebrows that terminate cleanly before the bridge of the nose.
Furthermore, the workshop style relies on highly specific anatomical observation: the artisan has meticulously modeled the individual finger joints and knuckles on the dorsal surface of the right hand, displaying a distinct articulation of the skeletal structure underneath the skin as it reaches down to touch the earth. This naturalism extends to the feet, where the toes are rendered with a softer, fleshy realism, showing a distinct downward weight as they curve softly against the contours of the inner thighs. Following this strict focus on decorative framing, the margins of the drapery are incised with the diagnostic "rice-grain" or foliate hemline, set tightly within double-beaded bands that emphasize the edges of the form. All these features are also featured on two seated Khasa Malla Buddhas (Bonhams, Hong Kong, 2 December 2020, lot 1010) and another in the Patan Museum (614).
An early tenth century Pala period example depicts Tatagatha Akshobhya (U. von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981, p. 269, no. 62E). Although this figure does not wear a sanghati, he wears a crown, necklace, armbands, and bracelets. Several other Bihar examples portray the Tatagatha also wearing bias-draped robes in addition to the jeweled ornamentation and positioned in the earth-touching mudra (ibid, 1981, p. 273, no. 64B and 64E). These iconographic and visual traditions were largely adopted into Nepal and Tibet, and relying heavily on these Pala period models, Newari artists largely proliferated this style across the Himalayas.
Ruling across the Karnali Basin of Western Nepal and Western Tibet from the twelfth to the mid-fourteenth century, the Khasa Mallas were a powerful ruling family. Though they regularly engaged in territorial rivalries and launched destructive raids against the Mallas of the Kathmandu Valley, they were concurrently devout Buddhists. Their kingdom served as a crucial geographic and cultural highway across the high passes. Leveraging their immense wealth and political dominance, Khasa Malla kings actively imported talent, inviting master Newar artists from the Kathmandu Valley to establish permanent royal workshops in the western middle hills. The resulting syncretic tradition left an indelible, highly recognizable signature on thirteenth and fourteenth-century bronze casting.
Rather than remaining a passive imitation of Kathmandu Valley styles, the Khasa Malla baseline was actively reconfigured into a pronounced, highly confident regional syntax. The artists retained the foundational Newari mastery of organic, well-nourished proportions, a fleshy torso expanding with yogic breath (prana), and warm, high-copper alloys heavily overlaid with pure gold. However, the Khasa Malla workshops codified these elements into an entirely original visual vocabulary. This distinct regional style is defined by the red painted surface behind the throne back, the lower and further spaced leaves of the crown, and eyebrows that terminate cleanly before the bridge of the nose.
Furthermore, the workshop style relies on highly specific anatomical observation: the artisan has meticulously modeled the individual finger joints and knuckles on the dorsal surface of the right hand, displaying a distinct articulation of the skeletal structure underneath the skin as it reaches down to touch the earth. This naturalism extends to the feet, where the toes are rendered with a softer, fleshy realism, showing a distinct downward weight as they curve softly against the contours of the inner thighs. Following this strict focus on decorative framing, the margins of the drapery are incised with the diagnostic "rice-grain" or foliate hemline, set tightly within double-beaded bands that emphasize the edges of the form. All these features are also featured on two seated Khasa Malla Buddhas (Bonhams, Hong Kong, 2 December 2020, lot 1010) and another in the Patan Museum (614).