
Mark Rasmussen
International Director
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US$20,000 - US$30,000
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International Director
尼泊爾 十七/十八世紀 嘉拉滿努沙 緊那羅銅像
This rare and beautiful ritual object depicts the unique Nepalese take on the half-human, half-bird celestial creature in Buddhist art known more broadly as a kinnara. The sculptor has impressively married human and avian forms, giving her a charming smile while offering a garland of flowers, and an ornate flourish of feathers across her back. Whereas the kinnara might have talons resembling that of a peacock in Thailand, in Nepal, she has the webbed feet of a duck. The present lot is one of the finest examples of Nepalese jalamanusha, comparing favorably to two other published examples, one held in the Dallas Museum of Art (acc. #PG.2012.6) and another in the Nalin collection published in Vajracharya, Nepalese Seasons, Rain and Ritual, New York, 2016, p.45, no.5.
The mythic creature can be traced in Buddhist art to as far back as the railings of Sanchi. An early textual reference in the Candakinnara Jataka mentions that a kinnara dies of a broken heart when separated from her mate. According to Kossak, the jataka possibly led to kinnaras becoming symbols of marital fidelity, which would explain the appearance of jalamanusha in the context of a Nepalese family portrait depicting Gaganasim and His Wives, published in Pal, Himalayas, Chicago, 2003, p.69, no.38.
Provenance
Private Asian Collection