Manjushri Gilt copper with turquoise and lapis lazuli Tibet

The finely cast and gilded sculpture depicting Manjushri seated in vajraparyankasana on a double lotus pedestal, with lotus flowers at each shoulder, at the right bearing the khadga and at the left the pustaka inset with lapis lazuli, the Lord of Wisdom adorned with bodhisattva jewelry inset with turquoise, wearing a voluminous lower garment secured at the waist by a jeweled belt and with a scarf draped over the shoulders and falling to the throne at each side.

The modelling owes much to early fifteenth century Chinese bronzes, known to Tibetan artists through the numerous donations of fine gilt images by the Yongle court to Tibetan monasteries. The jewelry design, the manner in which the robe falls in loose folds over the legs and the fine elongated lotus petals of the pedestal, are all inspired by these early Ming masterpieces. Tibetan taste is seen in the turquoise jewelry decoration, not seen on the Chinese bronzes, and the inset lapis lazuli of the pustaka, denoting the deep blue/black paper traditionally used in Tibetan manuscripts. Compare the crown and earring style, the lotus stems and foliage at either arm and the turquoise-set jewelry with a Tibetan fifteenth century Vajradhara now in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see The Palace Museum, Cultural Relics of Tibetan Buddhism Collected in the Qing Palace, Beijing, 1992, p. 86, pl. 58.