A GILT COPPER FIGURE OF TARA


NEPAL, 15TH/16TH CENTURYHimalayan Art Resources item no.61627 28 cm (11 in.) high
|尼泊爾 十五/十六世紀 銅鎏金度母像 Tara takes on many manifestations, offering various forms of grace to Buddhist devotees. In her most popular forms, she alleviates fears, prolongs life, and empowers practitioners. Some traditions regard Tara as a manifestation of Avalokiteshvara's compassion. Various touching origin myths speak of Tara arising from his heart, or arising from a tear he shed for mankind's suffering, etc. In other traditions Tara is a counterpart to Avalokiteshvara, regarded as an enlightened female Buddha. She is also regarded as a meditational deity (yidam), practiced in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Such is her popularity.This delightful gilded copper sculpture of Tara follows a conservative tradition in Nepal of depicting goddesses standing with the left knee slightly flexed. Her pose and garments add movement as the eye travels upward. Her body's sensuous modeling and the floral imagery across her thighs emphasize her youthful femininity. Her hands are perfectly poised. Lotuses arising from their mudras boldly blossom by her shoulders. Finally, her enthused smile holds the viewer's gaze. The sculpture's crown and jewelry are closely related to that of a 15th-century bronze Padmapani in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (see von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p.362, no.97A). Also compare the sashes to that of a Vasudhara (ibid., pp.366-7, no.99I). ProvenanceOriental Antiquities, London, 1968