A RARE COPPER FIGURE OF AVALOKITESHVARA

Description:

Kashmir, 9th/ 10th cent.
H. 12,8 cm
Seated in sattvasana on a a lotus base placed on a rectangular plinth with his right hand in varadamudra while the left is placed on his left upper leg holding the stem of the padma lotus flowering along his upper arm, wearing dhoti, scarf draped around his shoulders, antelope-skin resting on his left shoulder, bejewelled, his cold-gilded face displaying a serene expression with almond-shaped eyes below arched eyebrows that run into his nose-bridge, incised urna at his forehead, the blue coloured hairdo combed in a chignon and secured with a three-leaf tiara with the central leaf showing a minute figure of Buddha Amitabha.
Old Bavarian private collection, assembled since the 1960s, this bronze acquired from Nusser Munich, 20.11.1993, lot 2004 (invoice preserved)
Cf. a similar sculpture of Avalokiteshvara in the collection of the Beijing Palace Museum, published in 'Buddhist Statues of Tibet - The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum', Hong Kong 2003, no. 23, p. 24 - Minor casting holes, wear and slightly chipped