An exceptional polychrome wood figure of Buddha Nepal, Early Mala Period (c. 1200-1482), 13th-14th century | 尼泊爾 馬拉王朝時期 十三至十四世紀 木雕加彩佛坐像

The Kathmandu Valley abounds with carved wood in myriad forms, from elegantly styled struts supporting temple roofs to intricate pierced window frames, elaborate temple facades and torana arches, and free-standing polychrome figures of Buddhist and Hindu deities. The Newar craftsmen of Nepal have been sought after for their exceptional talent as far afield as China in the Yuan, Ming the Qing dynasties, but this carved wood figure of Buddha displays the quintessential qualities of indigenous style in the Kathmandu Valley: cf. the physiognomy with characteristic broad forehead, and the muscular sculptural form of two fifteenth century or earlier Nepalese wood figures of Amoghapasha and Tara in the Los Angeles Museum of Art, see Pal, Art of Nepal, 1985, pp. 113-14, cat. nos. S34-35. The muscularity and distinctive physiognomy is remarkably similar to the celebrated dry lacquer bodhisattva in the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, that has been dated to the twelfth century from the Northern Song or Jin Dynasty, which may have been based on an Indo-Nepalese model, see Watt, The World of Khubilai Khan, 2010, p. 106, fig. 137.

The Buddha is represented in the familiar mediation posture with legs crossed in vajraparyankasana and hands in bhumisparsha mudra, the right hand reaching towards the earth depicting the moment of Shakyamuni’s triumph over the demon Mara and symbolising his eventual enlightenment.