A large silver- and copper-inlaid copper alloy figure of Avalokiteshvara, Tibet, 13th Century | 西藏 十三世紀 銅合金錯銀銅嵌寶觀音立像 

Sotheby's New York, 23rd March 2000, lot 78.

紐約蘇富比2000年3月23日，編號78

This magnificent, large and early Tibetan sculpture of eight-armed, multi-headed Avalokiteshvara is powerful in stature, yet incredibly sensitive in its casting. The quality of the inlaid decoration is exquisite and exceptionally well preserved. It depicts the patron bodhisattva of Tibet standing tall with two main hands held together in a gesture of salutation (anjali mudra), enclosing a copper-inlaid jewel, the remaining six arms depicted radiating around the figure. The deity is portrayed wearing a long dhoti intricately incised with a foliate hem decorated with quatrefoil medallions inlaid with copper and silver, the pleated drapery suspended from the waist with a large central stylized rosette with silver- and copper-inlaid petals. The elaborate incised sash across the chest is ornamented with silver and copper circular rosettes. Sumptuous jewelry, consisting of silver necklaces inset with turquoise and coral, beaded disk earrings and five-leaf crowns, adorns the figure. The ten heads are arranged in four tiers, the uppermost that of a dharmapala with bulging copper-inlaid eyes. The primary face is cast with the utmost sensitivity, framed by the gentle curves of incised arched eyebrows above the silver-inlaid eyes and copper-inlaid lips.

For a closely related larger sculpture of similar iconography, complete with all eleven heads, see one exhibited in Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 2003, cat. no. 147. This figure has more characteristic Tibetan pigmentation on the faces and more restrained inlaid decoration than the current sculpture. The unusually intricate quality and beauty of the extensive silver and copper inlay visible here can be compared to the inlaid decoration found on a circa thirteenth century sculpture of Shadakshari in the Lionel Fournier gift to the Musée Guimet, Paris, illustrated in Gilles Beguin, Art esoterique de l'Himalaya: Catalogue de la donation Lionel Fournier, Paris, 1990, pl. 6, and a circa thirteenth century copper alloy portrait of a lama in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, illustrated in David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, pls 50 and 51. All three sculptures are extensively inlaid with copper and silver. The geometric shapes of the silver and copper inlay on the present sculpture and the Fournier Shadakshari relate directly to Tibetan book cover decoration of the period and therefore to the design motifs of medieval eastern Indian manuscript illumination. All three sculptures retain their original inset jewelry. The coral, lapis and turquoise that strongly complement the silver and copper as decoration for these ungilded sculptures are original settings in each case.

此尊西藏造觀音像高碩偉岸，十面八臂，鑄工細緻入微。嵌飾精巧，保存完善。可比一觀音像，十一面具足，尺寸稍大，形態相似，錄Pratapaditya Pal，《Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure》，芝加哥，2003年，編號147；較之此尊，十一面觀音面部色彩更具西藏風格，然嵌飾不及此尊華麗。此尊錯銀銅，瑰美卓絕，可比一尊約十三世紀四臂觀音像，由Lionel Fournier惠贈吉美博物館，巴黎，錄Gilles Beguin，《Art esoterique de l'Himalaya : Catalogue de la donation Lionel Fournier》，巴黎，1990年，圖版6，及一尊約十三世紀銅合金喇嘛像，克利夫蘭藝術博物館寶蓄，錄David Weldon、Jane Casey Singer《The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection》，倫敦，1999年，圖版50及51。三尊皆錯銀銅；此尊及Fournier四臂觀音像所帶錯銀銅幾何紋乃汲取自同時期西藏護經板，進而可溯源至中世紀東印度經卷繪飾。三尊皆帶原配嵌寶；像未鎏金，然珊瑚、青金石、綠松石與銀銅嵌錯交相輝映，完好如初。