A REPOUSSE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF TARA

This elegant seated figure of Tara exhibits many characteristics common to Buddhist imagery from the Qianlong period (1736-1795), made in the lamaist workshops in and around Beijing. In the latter half of Qianlong's reign, when the construction of Buddhist temples and the associated Buddhist images reached its apogee, the use of repoussé, where thin metals are beaten rather than cast, became more prevalent in an effort to save materials and time. The artisans of the period quickly mastered the process, and details such as the ornately worked crown and flowers at the shoulders in the present figure demonstrate the mastery of the technique. Compare the bodily proportions, the repoussé details and the treatment of the lotus base of the present work with a Qianlong-period figure of a bodhisattva sold at Christie’s New York on 16 September 2016, lot 1231.

Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org), item no. 24500.