A BRONZE ALTAR TRIAD OF SHADAKSHARI LOKESHVARA

NORTHEASTERN INDIA OR ORISSA, PALA PERIOD, 11TH-12TH CENTURY

Details

A BRONZE ALTAR TRIAD OF SHADAKSHARI LOKESHVARA
NORTHEASTERN INDIA OR ORISSA, PALA PERIOD, 11TH-12TH CENTURY
The central figure seated in dhyanasana on a double lotus base over a stepped plinth, the lower hands held in anjalimudra and the upper hands holding a mala and a lotus, flanked on either side by diminutive images of the same bodhisattva, all backed by a flaming aureole surmounted by a stupa
5 ¾ in. (14.6 cm.) high

Provenance

Spink & Son Ltd., London, 18 June 1974.
The James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, Chicago.

Literature

P. Pal, A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, Chicago, 1997, pp. 139 and 312, cat. no. 179.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Vicki Paloympis

alsdorfcollection@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

As Buddhism flourished under the Pala rulers, there was a surge in pilgrimage among Buddhist practitioners and laypeople to sacred sites associated with Buddha Shakyamuni. Portable bronze sculptures played a crucial role in the propagation of Buddhist iconography throughout the region.

Compare the serene expressions, foliate nimbus, and stepped plinth in the present lot with a related triad sold at Christie’s New York, 21 March 2012, lot 740.

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