Christie’s. Art d'Asie, Paris, 12 December 2018
An important framed paubha depicting Avalokiteshvara, Nepal, circa 1300
Lot 36. An important framed paubha depicting Avalokiteshvara, Nepal, circa 1300. Dimensions: 65 x 53 cm. (25 5/8 x 20 7/8 in.), encadré. Estimate EUR 300,000 - EUR 400,000. Price realised EUR 391,500. © Christie’s Images Limited 2018.
Il est représenté assis en lalitasana sur une base lotiforme placée sur un trône. Ses mains principales sont en dharmacakramudra, les autres rayonnant autour de lui. Il est vêtu de dhoti, paré de bijoux. Son visage est emprunt d'une expression sereine. Il est flanqué par quatre orantes. Le registre supérieur est orné des cinq tathagatas, Buddha Shakyamuni et Maitreya. Le registre inférieur est peint de quatre scènes de cérémonies rituelles.
Provenance: The Private Collection of Lionel and Danielle Fournier of Himalayan Art, collected in Europe during 1970s-1980s.
Literature: H. Uhlig, Tantrische Kunst des Buddhismus, Verlag Ullstein GmbH, Berlin 1981, p. 156-157, n. 52.
G. Béguin, Art ésotérique de l'Himâlaya : La donation Lionel Fournier, Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris 1990, p. 174.
Exhibited: Musée national des arts asiatiques - Guimet, 13 October 1990 - 28 January 1991.
Note: This fine paubha portrays a rare form of the six-armed Avalokiteshvara who sits majestically in lalitasana on a lotus base placed on an elaborate throne. He is sumptuously decorated with jewellery contrasting well against his red body colour. The iconographic particularities are discussed at length and explained by Gilles Béguin on pages 172 and 175 in his publication and therefore need not to be repeated. The god of compassion is surrounded by various emanations, the upper register includes the five transcendental Buddhas and the lower part shows the priestly consecration of the painting and its donors.
The unknown artist displays a confident, firm hand resulting in a well-balanced composition with delicate and fine executed lines. The subdued colours, with an emphasize on red and blue, makes this early painting an important testimony of early Newari religious art.