A GILT AND TURQUOISE-INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF GREEN TARA, DENSATIL STYLE, TIBET, 14TH CENTURY
Elegantly cast, seated in lalitasana on a double-lotus base with beaded edges, her pendent right leg supported by a separate lotus blossom stemming from the base. Her right hand held in in varadamudra extending down her leg and her raised left holding a lotus stem which curls around her hand and arm coming to full bloom at the shoulder.


Provenance:
From an old German private collection.

Condition:
Remarkably well-preserved condition. Old wear, predominantly from centuries of worship within the culture, with some rubbing and minor losses to gilt. Minimal casting flaws, nicks and dents, occasional light scratches. Losses and possible replacements to inlays. Warping and dents to seal plate. The bronze with a fine, naturally grown, smooth patina overall.

Weight: 908.1 g
Dimensions: Height 16.2 cm

She is clad in a dhoti neatly incised with rows of floral designs and a finely beaded hem, and richly adorned with a foliate crown, beaded necklace, belt, armlets and bracelets, and pendent earrings, all with fine turquoise inlays.

Her serene face with sinuously-lidded downcast eyes below elegantly arched brows, her full lips forming a calm smile, her hair pulled up into a high chignon and falling elegantly in a twisted strand over her right shoulder and back.


Heavily cast gilt copper alloy figures of this type
are characteristic of the Densatil style, a Kagyu monastic complex in central Tibet, southeast of Lhasa, which has long been considered one of the great treasures of Tibet. Founded in the late 12th century, it enjoyed generous patronage and was lavishly decorated during a period of expansion from circa 1360 until the early 16th century. The monastery was known for eight extraordinary memorial stupas symbolizing Buddha's first teaching in Benares. These stupas were called tashi gomang, meaning ‘many doors of auspiciousness,’ and were multi-tiered copper-alloy structures filled with deities such as the present example, standing more than ten feet tall and resplendent with inlays of semiprecious stones. Prior to the destruction of Densatil during China’s Cultural Revolution (1966-1978), eight of them dating between 1208 and 1432 stood in the monastery’s main hall.


Expert’s note:
Close stylistic parallels can be drawn between the present work and a number of gilt bronze sculptures produced by Newari craftsmen for the Densatil Monastery. Chief among the diagnostic traits that can identify a work from Densatil are the convexly stepped eyebrows and the precisely incised double-lined eyelids and lips. For example, compare a gilt bronze Padmapani figure, Densatil, 14th century, at Bonhams Paris, 14 June 2022, lot 44, from the Claude de Marteau collection.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 21 April 2021, lot 12
Price: HKD 4,002,500 or approx.
EUR 483,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt copper alloy figure of Tara, Tibet, Densatil style, circa 14th century
Expert remark: Compare the related style, subject, manner of casting, and modeling with similar pose and hand gestures, and adornments with similar turquoise inlays and fine beading. Note the similar size (17 cm).




十四世紀西藏銅鎏金嵌綠松石綠度母，丹薩替風格

綠度母頭戴花冠，面相方圓，慈眉善目，神態沉靜。耳垂花璫，胸戴瓔珞，袒露上身，下著錦褲，雙肩豎出蓮花法器，單腿伸出自然坐於單層覆蓮座上。底座密封雙金剛杵印。


來源：
德國私人收藏。

品相：
保存狀況極好，經過數世紀的膜拜，有磨損、鎏金缺損。鑄造缺陷、刻痕和凹痕、輕微劃痕、鑲嵌物損失和更換，密封板翹曲和凹痕，自然細膩的包漿。

重量：908.1 克
尺寸：高 16.2 厘米


此類型的重鑄鎏金銅合金造像
是丹薩蒂爾風格的特徵，它是位於中國西藏自治區山南地區桑日縣的一座藏傳佛教帕竹噶舉派寺院，是帕竹噶舉派的第一座寺院。丹薩蒂爾寺的各類佛教造像數量很多，十分珍貴。它始建於十二世紀末，獲得了慷慨的讚助，並在大約1360年至十六世紀初的擴建。該寺院以八座非凡的佛塔而聞名，這些佛塔象徵著佛陀在貝拿勒斯的第一次教導。這些佛塔被稱為扎西五芒，意思是“許多吉祥之門”，是多層銅合金結構，裡面裝滿了如此拍品一般的造像，高十多英尺，鑲嵌著寶石，金碧輝煌。在中國文化大革命（1966-1978年）期間，丹薩蒂爾寺被毀之前，有8座1208年至1432年的作品矗立在寺院的大殿裡。


專家注釋：
這件拍品與尼瓦里匠人為丹薩提爾寺製作的衆多銅鎏金造像在風格上有相似之處。 能夠識別丹薩蒂爾寺造像的主要特徵是凸出的眉毛以及雙眼瞼和嘴唇。 例如，比較一下 Claude de Marteau 收藏的十四世紀的丹薩提爾銅鎏金蓮花手菩薩造像，巴黎邦瀚斯拍賣行，2022 年 6 月 14 日，拍品 44。


拍賣結果比較：

形制：相近
拍賣：香港邦瀚斯，2021年4月21日，lot 12
價格：HKD 4,002,500（相當於今日
EUR 483,000
）
描述：西藏丹薩替風格約十四世紀銅鎏金度母像 
專家評論：比較相近的主題 、鑄造風格、相近的姿勢、手勢，以及類似綠松石鑲嵌和精美串珠的裝飾品。請注意相似的尺寸 (17 釐米)