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373 - North India, Bihar region, Nālandā tradition, circa 16th cen…
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Estimate €8,000 - €12,000
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Description
North India, Bihar region, Nālandā tradition, circa 16th century Important standing bronze Buddha figure with brown and green patina, depicted in abhaya mudrā, dressed in a monastic robe with concentric folds covering both shoulders. The serene face with half-closed eyes is surmounted by a high ushnīsha treated in fine curls. Lost wax casting with earthen core. Height: 92 cm The work is based on the great canons of Buddhist sculpture in the Pāla and Nālandā tradition, which spread throughout Bihar and eastern India between the 8th and 12th centuries, but with an interpretation that appears later. This phenomenon is common in Indian and Himalayan monastic centres, where ancient models continued to be reproduced and reinterpreted for several centuries. Several elements here point towards a historicist production or a cast in the late monastic tradition rather than a high medieval bronze: relatively supple modelling of the face and limbs, regular treatment of the curls of the ushnīsha, simplification of certain details of the hands and drapery, as well as a general surface that is less incisive than that observed on the large early Pāla bronzes preserved in museum collections. A thermoluminescence test carried out on the inner core by the QED laboratory on 16 March 2026 indicates an early firing compatible with a dating of between 400 and 500 years. The sculpture should therefore probably be understood as a late work in the stylistic continuity of the Nālandā models produced between the 8th and 12th centuries. Provenance: - Monaco Collection
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About the sale Asian art
Auction location
Auction time 06/24/2026 at 1:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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