A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF SHAKYAMUNI 


NEPAL, KHASA MALLA KINGDOM, 13TH/14TH CENTURYHimalayan Art Resources item no.61907 10 1/4 in. (26 cm), height including tangs;9 7/8 in. (25 cm), height excluding tangs
|尼泊爾 迦舍摩羅王朝 十三/十四世紀 銅鎏金釋迦摩尼坐像 The Khasa Malla Kingdom ruled the Karnali Basin in Western Nepal and part of Western Tibet between the 12th and 14th centuries. The Khasa Malla rulers were devout Buddhist patrons that appear to have developed a distinct stylistic identity in their artistic commissions. Of impressive volume and quality, this extraordinary image of Shakyamuni stems from the small corpus of sculpture and painting attributed to the Khasa Malla Kingdom. The art of Khasa Mallas took inspiration from its neighboring cultures and incorporated stylistic elements from the Kathmandu Valley, Western Tibet, and Pala India. As the Khasa Mallas had close contact with the Newars in Kathmandu, influences from the Valley prevail others. The naturalistic and sensuous modeling of the present figure, for example, is one of the hallmarks of the Newari style. Similarly, gilt bronzes from the Kathmandu Valley tend to also show notable losses to the gilded surface, being thinly applied and frequently rubbed during devotional practice. However, as exhibited in the present work, many features are distinctly Khasa Malla. Shakyamuni's face, for example, is absent of the Newari broad forehead. His eyebrows are high and slanting. He has a beak-shaped nose. His mouth is narrow with plump lips. And his eyes have wavy lids that widen at the sides. Compare almost identical physiognomy on a Khasa Malla Shadakshari published in Alsop, "The Metal Sculpture of the Khasa Malla Kingdom", in Orientations: Art of Tibet, Hong Kong, 1998, p.167, fig.9. With rounded, double-lobed petals under a thick beaded upper rim, and a plain rear, the Shadakshari also has a similar base.   The Khasa Mallas also distinguished their Buddhist sculptures with meticulous details, like the present bronze's defined knuckles and subtle toning around the shoulder muscles. These characteristics are repeated on a larger gilt bronze of the same subject in the Rubin Museum of Art, published in Vajracharya, Nepalese Seasons: Rain and Ritual, New York, 2016, p.72, no.17. Moreover, the Rubin Shakyamuni also shares similarly plump hands and feet with the present bronze, and a double-layered 'fishtail' pleat over its left shoulder. Provenance Private Collection, Southern Germany