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Lot Essay
Few other examples of Kashmiri bronze sculpture of equal refinement are recorded and the present example also retains areas of fire gilding, a very unusual feature in the context of Kashmiri bronzes, while silver and copper inlay are a frequent characteristic.
Chandra Reedy, in Himalayan Bronzes, fig. 72, p. 165, dates the present example to the 10th century. However, stylistic elements and overall refinement, particularly in the sophisticated and careful treatment of the undulating folds with zig-zag hemlines, are indicative of the high point of Kashmiri production no later than the 9th century. More recent scholarship shows that a fully developed stylistic prototype is already achieved by the 7th century, leading to a revision in dating; compare the bronze figures of Buddha in dharmachakra mudra, in U. von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, 2001, vol. I, cat. nos. 15A-C, 19A-C, all dated to the 7th century.
Compare also with the examples from the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, now at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, see U. von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981, cat. no. 15E; and another in the Norton Simon Foundation, tentatively dated circa 800, but bearing an inscription and date corresponding to 694 that in light of recent research would likely be confirmed, with similar treatment of the drapery, and face with narrow downturned eyes beneath raised arched brows and large urna, see P. Pal (ed.), 'Asian Art, Selections from the Norton Simon Museum', reprint from Orientations, July 1988, fig. 2, p. 50.
Chandra Reedy, in Himalayan Bronzes, fig. 72, p. 165, dates the present example to the 10th century. However, stylistic elements and overall refinement, particularly in the sophisticated and careful treatment of the undulating folds with zig-zag hemlines, are indicative of the high point of Kashmiri production no later than the 9th century. More recent scholarship shows that a fully developed stylistic prototype is already achieved by the 7th century, leading to a revision in dating; compare the bronze figures of Buddha in dharmachakra mudra, in U. von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, 2001, vol. I, cat. nos. 15A-C, 19A-C, all dated to the 7th century.
Compare also with the examples from the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, now at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, see U. von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981, cat. no. 15E; and another in the Norton Simon Foundation, tentatively dated circa 800, but bearing an inscription and date corresponding to 694 that in light of recent research would likely be confirmed, with similar treatment of the drapery, and face with narrow downturned eyes beneath raised arched brows and large urna, see P. Pal (ed.), 'Asian Art, Selections from the Norton Simon Museum', reprint from Orientations, July 1988, fig. 2, p. 50.