A SILVER INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF PADMAPANI LOKESHVARA


SWAT VALLEY, 7TH CENTURYHimalayan Art Resources item no.61805 13.1 cm (5 in.) high
|This bronze figure of Padmapani Lokeshvara is remarkably well preserved with a polished, blackened patina. Its details are crisp and well modeled. The crown is complex with scrolling foliate ornaments over a patterned cap and triangular crown leaves. Tresses cascade to his shoulders in three bands. The wide lotus is so nourished that it weighs too heavily on its stem and rests on the Bodhisattva's shoulder. His lower garment has well-defined pleats. His torso is muscular and supple, sumptuous like the lotus base's swollen petals. This exquisite bronze represents the triumphing sophistication of the Swat Valley style as it is about to bear influence on the bronzes of Kashmir.   Swat Valley is made famous by legends surrounding the creation of the very first image of Buddha that was commissioned during his lifetime by one of Swat's ancient rulers, King Udayana of Kaushambi. Situated along the lush upper banks of the Indus river in modern day northern Pakistan, Swat Valley pivotally continued to thrive as center for Buddhism after Hun invasions had curtailed the religion in other areas of Gandhara by 6th century. Gradually the distinctive Swat aesthetic melted into the style of adjoining Kashmir. Thereafter the art of medieval Kashmir was seminal for the formation of early Western Tibetan Buddhist art and beyond.   The fine facial features, for which this bronze excels, distinguishes it from later Kashmir types. Whereas the latter tend to have stuffed, somewhat bloated cheeks, Swat faces have a more pleasing oval shape reminiscent of the Gupta style, that bore influence from increased trade after the Gupta empire subjugated much of modern day Pakistan in the mid 4th century. For the same reason, his nose appears more aquiline than broader Kashmir examples. The eyes are elegant and symmetrical, whereas in Kashmir they can be unrestrained and abstracted. The nuanced portrait of this Padmapani, with a slightly upturned chin, is emphatically noble.   The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a closely related example (2012.247). Two other related figures of Vajradharma Lokeshvara and Hayagriva are published in Kilmburg-Salter, Silk Route and the Diamond Path, Los Angeles, 1982, p.100, nos.19&20, held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the St. Louis Art Museum, respectively. Provenance Sotheby's, London, 27 April 1995, lot 182 Private European Collection 銅錯銀蓮華手坐像斯瓦特河谷，七世紀 喜馬拉雅藝術資源網61805號高13.1釐米（5英吋）2,000,000-3,000,000港元 此尊蓮花手菩薩品相完好，包漿油潤光澤。整體造型大氣，局部又細緻入微。尖葉寶冠造型精緻繁複，以卷草紋飾點綴其間，髮辮分三股垂於肩上。菩薩手中綻放的蓮花飽滿厚實，輕靠在菩薩肩上。下身所著僧裙衣料厚重，衣褶明顯。上身端直健美，挺括的肌肉與蓮座中寬大圓隆的蓮瓣相得益彰，生機勃勃。藝術風格嫻熟的斯瓦特造像直接影響了克什米爾風格的形成，而此尊作品無疑是斯瓦特造像中難得的代表作之一。 相傳佛陀在世時，斯瓦特谷考夏姆比地區的君王烏仗那贊助完成了首個佛陀圖像，斯瓦特也由此而聞名。後由於匈人大舉入侵犍陀羅國一帶，使當地佛教在六世紀走向了衰亡。而地處今日巴基斯坦北部，富饒的印度河上流流域的斯瓦特河谷，卻以得天獨厚的地理位置為佛教發展提供了庇護，繼犍陀羅後成為新的佛教聖地。隨著佛教的發展傳播，斯瓦特獨特的藝術審美逐漸被克什米爾造像吸收，隨後又進一步影響了早期藏西佛教造像的藝術風格。 此尊造像刻畫入神的面部特徵明顯有別於較晚期的克什米爾造像。相較於克什米爾造像中橢長渾圓的面相，斯瓦特造像中的面部則更加自然可喜，具有笈多遺風。西元四世紀中期，笈多王朝的文化藝術隨著疆域的擴張傳播到今日巴基斯坦境內大片區域，斯瓦特藝術也融匯了其影響。此尊菩薩鼻樑高挺，明顯異於克什米爾造像中寬圓的鼻型。雙眼刻畫優美對稱，也不同於克什米爾造像中抽象的眼部造型。菩薩下頜微仰的姿態氣宇軒昂，展現出高貴無比的氣韻。 大都會博物館藏有一尊十分類似的觀音造像（館藏編號2012.247）。另外，大都會博物館藏的一尊金剛法，和聖路易斯藝術博物館藏的一尊馬頭明王，和此尊也有諸多類似之處。參見Kilmburg-Salter，《Silk Route and the Diamond Path》，洛杉磯，1982年，頁100，圖19&20。 來源 蘇富比，倫敦，1995年4月27日，拍品182 歐洲私人收藏