Bonhams 1793 : A gilt copper figure of Vasudhara Nepal, circa 13th century

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18 Mar 2013 13:00 EDT New York
Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art
Back to auction 20903

A gilt copper figure of Vasudhara

Nepal, circa 13th century
This six-armed goddess sits in lalitasana with her right foot supported by a plump-leafed lotus flower. She wears an exquisitely detailed dhoti incised with a lace-like floral design and secured by a bejeweled belt. She holds a gem, the vase of Amrita, a harvest bundle, and a manuscript, and one of her hands is in apana mudra. Adorned with various jewelry inset with semi-precious stones and an intricate crown inset with rubies and turquoise securing her hair arranged in a double bun.
6½ in. (16.5 cm.) high

Sold for US$ 74,500 inc. premium

Footnotes

As a purveyor of wealth and prosperity, Vasudhara is represented as a young girl as prescribed in the sadhana, an ancient text outlining the ways in which a divinity should be conceived. Both fertile and generous, she is popular amongst worshipers seeking auspiciousness. In addition, alluded to with the manuscript she holds, Vasudhara is closely identified with Prajnaparamita.

For comparable examples of Nepali sculptures of Vashudhara, see Pal, Art of Nepal, 1985, no. S21 & S24, pp. 102 & 104. See also Pal, Where the Gods are Young, 1975, no. 41, p. 57.

Published:
Carlton Rochell, Sacred and Sublime, 2007, no. 40.

Provenance:
Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection
Sotheby's New York, 2 November 1988, lot 79
Carlton Rochell, Ltd, 2007
Private American Collection