AN IMPORTANT GILDED COPPER GEM-INSET FIGURE OF MAHASRI TARA

AN IMPORTANT GILDED COPPER GEM-INSET FIGURE OF MAHASRI TARA
C.12TH CENTURY BIHAR, EASTERN INDIA

The finely cast and gilded-copper figure wears a diaphanous floral-patterned lower garment, sumptuous jewellery including a necklace, broad bangles, armbands, a belt clasp and anklets all inset with semiprecious stones, a jewelled diadem, a topknot and large hoop earrings. Her hair is worn in a large bun at the right shoulder, with her hands in the teaching gesture (dharmacakra-mudra), the left holding the end of a scarf draped over her forearm and falling to the lotus seat by her left knee. She has two gem-set lotus stems at her side and is seated in the posture of royal ease (rājalīlāsana) on a lotus emerging from scrolling vine and gem-set lotus buds, all supported on a tiered platform with large pearl border. The pedestal is held by serpent kings (nāgarāja) at either side, and an attendant cradling Tara’s pendent right foot with her outstretched hands, with an elephant, lion, and a human figure among scrolling vine at the rear, and a tenon projecting from her back to affix a backplate, (now lost), into two slots cast in the back of the pedestal. The statue is cast in five parts, the figure of Tara together with the upper tier of the lotus pedestal, the lower tier of the lotus pedestal together with the plinth, the attendant figure supporting Tara’s foot, and the two nāgarāja, 1.3kg, 16.5 cm.

Provenance: from the collection of Norman Blount (1875-1930). Norman Blount was a jute broker, as well as the joint secretary (with the artist Abanindranath Tagore) of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, which was founded in 1907 in Calcutta, with Lord Kitchener the Society’s President.

十二世紀 鎏金度母坐像
來源：諾曼·布朗特（1875-1930）收藏。諾曼布朗特曾是一個黃麻經銷商，與藝術家泰戈爾一起擔任了印度東方藝術協會的聯合秘書（1907年於加爾各答成立），而霍雷肖•赫伯特•基奇納元帥(1850-1916)為協會主席。

Mahāśrī Tārā

The immensely popular goddess of compassion (karuṇā) and transcendental wisdom (prajñā), Tārā is known to intercede in the lives of her faithful and protect them from all manner of harm.

Since her first appearance in India around the 7th century, she has assumed many iconographic forms. In this c.12th century sculpture from eastern India, she appears as the exalted (Mahāśrī) Tārā. Both teacher (her right hand assumes the teaching gesture, dharmacakra mudrā) and divine mother, she turns her compassionate gaze downwards to meet that of her devotees. She extends forward her gently cradled right foot, as if preparing to rise from her regal seat (rājalīlāsana) and enter the world. The goddess is closely aligned with nature. Her lotus seat, supported by two serpent kings (nāgarāja), arises within a natural setting. Two verdant lotuses enclose her, their flowers turning inward towards Tārā as if to acknowledge her luminosity. Indeed, the c. 7th century Sanskrit text Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa includes poetic tributes of her in just such terms, “trees, studded with flowers on every branch, abounding with open flowers…their bending boughs…turned towards the goddess Tārā.”

Beneath the throne, tendrils arise from the stem of her lotus seat and fill the space with gem-encrusted foliate roundels, enclosing animals (lion and elephant), and human alike. Her seat rises above a stepped platform, finished by a row of large pearl beads. The sculpture was once completed by a (now missing) backplate, secured on a tenon at the back and further secured into two slots below it. Richly gilded and crowned and bejewelled, her lavish adornments include a substantial necklace, upper armlets, bracelets, belt, and anklets, all skilfully inset with multi-coluored gems. Large hoop earrings and a silk skirt with incised hem and floral ornaments also reflect her elevated status and enhance her beauty.

This elegant sculpture is remarkable for its refinement, its balanced composition and Tārā’s beautiful countenance, which may be compared with that of the celebrated and contemporaneous Avalokiteśvara from Kurkihār. Gilded sculptures from eastern India are rare. Other outstanding examples include the c.12th century Avalokiteśvara from Kurkihār (25.5 cm.); a c.12th century Tārā in the collection of the Potala, Lhasa (41.5 cm.); and a c.9th century seated bodhisattva in a private collection (20 cm.). The circular tendrils enclosing figures along the base is a motif seen in other eastern Indian medieval sculptures including two 10th-11th century bronze sculptures from Faridpur, Gaya district. The large pearls along the base are also found in a copper alloy sculpture of a c.12th century seated Maitreya in the Ford Collection. Similar seated posture and inset gems can be found in a c.11th-12th century copper alloy sculpture of Padmapāṇi in the Bertie Aschmann Foundation of Tibetan Art at the Rietberg Museum. Tārā’s hair, drawn into a bun just behind her right shoulder, can be seen in other eastern Indian medieval sculptures, including a Tārā in the Potala Collection in Lhasa.

The eastern Indian medieval school of art flourished between the eighth and the end of the twelfth centuries. A significant number of eastern Indian medieval sculptures bear inscriptions that include regnal dates of the local Pāla and Sena kings, making it possible to construct a fairly accurate chronology for this regional school. Encompassing the modern Indian states of Bihar, West Bengal and the country of Bangladesh, eastern India was the Buddhist homeland, the region where Śākyamuni Buddha (c.480 – c.400 BCE) became enlightened, expounded his spiritual teachings, and died. Countless devotees from within India and across Asia travelled here to seek authentic Buddhist teachings for over a millennium, until the final Muslim invasions of north India around the turn of the 13th century. Pilgrims studied at the great monastic universities (mahāvihāra) of Nālandā, Odantapurī, and Vikramaśīla, and offered homage at the region’s many temples and shrines. Indeed, works of art were a crucial element in the Buddhist pilgrim’s education in eastern India. A consecrated image was thought to embody the timeless presence of powerful gods. Particular statues were sometimes the destination of pilgrimage. Famous icons were said to speak, walk, give their jewellery to the poor, and above all, to answer the prayers of their devotees. Tibetan pilgrim Dharmasvamin described the main image in the Mahābodhi temple at Bodhgayā as insatiable to behold, such that when “even people with little faith [saw the image, they] felt it impossible not to shed tears.”

Pilgrim accounts mention enormous bronze, gold and silver images at Nālandā and elsewhere. The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang (602-664), described two ten-foot high silver statues of Avalokiteśvara and Maitreya in niches flanking the entrance to the Mahābodhi temple. He notes that a large Buddha in another shrine on the temple grounds was made of metal and another was cast in gold and silver and inlaid with gems and precious stones, worshipped in the monks’ residence. None of the enormous images described by medieval pilgrims still survive, but a remarkable c.7th century standing copper alloy figure of the Buddha was excavated about 175 km east of Nālandā at Sutangañj in 1860. At 2.3 meters, it is the largest surviving bronze sculpture from India. Fragments of sculptures discovered in Bangladesh in recent decades also lend support to the pilgrim accounts of life-size gilt images. The influx of pilgrims to eastern India meant that there was a market for mementos of pilgrimage, works that were produced for Buddhists with a wide range of financial means at their disposal. Thousands of sculptures of this school survive, many having been transported during medieval times to Tibet where they were housed in monastic collections. This gilded copper sculpture of Tārā is a fine example of this remarkable school of sculpture and attests to a powerful and aesthetically refined tradition of Buddhist art from the Buddhist homeland.

Jane Casey
August 2023

Dr Jane Casey is an art historian specializing in Himalayan art. She curated exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and at Casa Asia in Barcelona. Her publications include books and articles on Himalayan painting and sculpture. She is a Research Fellow in Tibetan Art at the Palace Museum, Beijing.