STATUETTE DE VASUDHARA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE DORÉ NÉPAL, DÉBUT...

STATUETTE DE VASUDHARA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE DORÉ
NÉPAL, DÉBUT DE L'ÉPOQUE MALLA, XIVE SIÈCLE
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 1827
17.8 cm (7 in.) high
A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF VASUDHARA
NEPAL, EARLY MALLA PERIOD, 14TH CENTURY

Published
Meinrad Maria Grewenig & Eberhard Rist (eds), Buddha: 2000 Years of Buddhist Art, 232 Masterpieces, Völklingen, 2016, p. 322, no. 134.

Exhibited
Buddha: 2000 Years of Buddhist Art, 232 Masterpieces, Völklingen, 24 June 2016 —19 February 2017.

Provenance
Private Missouri Collector
Sotheby's, New York, 18 December 1981, lot 21
Sotheby's, New York, 6 October 1990, lot 313

Greatly revered in the Nepalese Buddhist tradition, the goddess Vasudhara provides both spiritual and material prosperity. Boons of fertility, sustenance, wealth, and wisdom are represented in her hands with a water pot, sheaf of grain, strand of jewels, and the Prajnaparamita Sutra, respectively. Vasudhara's body, opulently adorned with jewelry, signifies her bodhisattva status – a conduit being traversing between her earthly existence and celestial body for the benefit of mankind. A principal deity that arose in tandem with the formation of Buddhist cults in Nepal, Vasudhara holds harmony in her aureole of arms and a warm expression of empathy and generosity.

Modeled with supple forms and flexible gestures, sculptural depictions of Vasudhara reached an artistic denouement during Nepal's Early Malla period (13th-14th century). This sculpture's sensuous contours, gentle quietude, and luxurious ornament exemplify the Early Malla style. In Nepal, almost all female goddesses were depicted with round breasts, youthful bodies, and benign faces, a continuation of Indian aesthetics which held a long tradition of intertwining divine and sensual forms as compatible attributes. Evident in other examples of the goddess Vasudhara, these ritualized conventions of posture and expression are rarely deviated from. One of a similar period sold at Christie's, Hong Kong, 30 November 2020, lot 3012, shares similarly taut yet fleshy figural characteristics. In another example, a Manjushri of the same period (Bonhams, New York, 20 March 2018, lot 3203) with thin arching eyebrows resting over wide lids, a rounded chin, and pursed lower lip under the tip of the nose mirrors this Vasudhara's facial features with a beautified expression of quiescence. A third closely related example is held in the Cleveland Museum of Art (fig. 1; 1947.493).

Of equal importance to the figural form is the minutia of inlaid semi-precious stones on all the adorning jewelry and implements. The earrings, lobes, pendants, clasps, and bands each feature an arrangement of opaque and translucent gemstones in colors of blue, green, turquoise, purple, and maroon. The crown type too, with a period-specific gemmed-roundel encompassed in a crescent and flanked by two jewel-encrusted lobes, is reflected in the crown of a standing Maitreya formerly of the Maitri Collection (Bonhams, New York, 20 March 2018, lot 3205). Here, distinctively setting the present example apart from other castings of the same period, the water pot, or 'treasure vase', that contains empowerments of long-life in Vasudhara's lap is lavishly ornamented with turquoise, garnets, and lapis.

For the figures listed in this essay, please refer to our printed or digital catalogue.

銅鎏金財源天母像
尼泊爾 馬拉王朝早期 十四世紀

著錄
Meinrad Maria Grewenig 及 Eberhard Rist 編，《Buddha：2000 Years of Buddhist Art，232 Masterpieces》，弗爾克林根，2016年，頁322，編號134

展覽
「Buddha：2000 Years of Buddhist Art，232 Masterpieces」，弗爾克林根，2016年6月24日至2017年2月19日

來源
密蘇里州私人珍藏
蘇富比，紐約，1981年12月18日，拍品21
蘇富比，紐約，1990年10月6日，拍品313

財源天母賜予著信眾精神層面之富足與世俗生活之安逸，於尼泊爾佛教之傳統中尤受尊崇。其所應承之豐富：繁衍、豐饒、財富與智慧，皆由手持之寶瓶、穀穗、珠串以及《般若波羅蜜多心經》經卷所一一象徵。其周身裝飾以華麗珠寶，彰顯其菩薩之神格——穿梭於塵世之體與天人之靈之間，以賜福凡人。隨著佛教敬拜於尼泊爾之興起，財源天母亦成為一尊重要神祇，在這鬱鬱蔥蔥的山谷之中備受珍愛。其手臂伸展，如舞姿般的光暈，映襯著慷慨而柔切的溫暖面容。

財源天母之造像于尼泊爾馬拉王朝早期（十三至十四世紀）達致藝術極致，身形柔軟，姿態靈動。豐滿有致的身體輪廓、寧靜柔和的神色與奢華的裝飾皆體現了馬拉王朝早期風格。幾乎尼泊爾所造之所有女神像都如此尊一般，乳房圓潤、體態年輕、面目溫良，延續著使天人神性與悅目感性交織在一起的印度美學傳統。觀其他財源天母造像便可知，這些已被賦予儀式範例化的姿勢與表情甚少出現偏離。一件相近時期的拍品（佳士得，香港，2020年11月30日，拍品3012）便呼應了她緊致豐滿的身材。另一可比較之例為同一時期之文殊菩薩像（邦瀚斯，紐約，2018年3月20日，拍品3203），其細眉拱于寬闊的眼瞼上，下巴圓潤，下唇抿起、正近鼻尖，與此尊財源天母面部特徵如出一轍，呈現對靜態神情之美感化表達。第三件與之密切相關之作收藏於克利夫蘭藝術博物館（圖 1；1947.493）。

與人物形像同等重要的，是所有珠寶飾物與法器所嵌各色半寶石所構成的精妙細節。耳鐺、吊墜、臂釧及各處葉形裝飾皆鑲有或透明，或不透明的藍、綠、青綠、紫和褐紅色寶石。寶冠同樣如此，月牙形中包圍著近似圓牌樣的寶石鑲嵌，其兩側為各鑲寶石的小葉，呈現出此時期的特徵，與之前邦瀚斯「Maitri」珍藏專拍一件彌勒立像（邦瀚斯，紐約，2018年3月20日，拍品3205）如出一轍。區別於同時期的其他銅像，此件財源天母像置於腿上的用于祈求長壽的寶瓶，飾有綠松石、石榴石及一排花瓣般的青金石，華麗非常。

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