佛像鉴定鉴赏收藏

尺寸：高17.8cm
年代：10世纪
质地：铜鎏金嵌银
风格：帕拉
来源：拍卖会
成交价：206,500美元(2012.03)
参阅：外部链接
鉴赏：
A rare silver-inlaid gilt bronze figure of Vasudhara
Northeastern India, Bihar, Pala period, 10th century
Seated in lalitasana on a double-lotus base and holding the water pot, scripture, and sheaves of grain, dressed in a dhoti and adorned with various jewelry including a silver necklace, her face with full lips and heavy-lidded eyes centered by an urna inlaid with silver, wearing a tiara with the hair pulled into a high chignon and topped with a jewel, backed by a flaming aureole surmounted by a parasol

Uniting erudition with nature's mysteries, Vasudhara is a beloved goddess who combines Buddhist traditions and local customs in an accessible, sensuous form. Her attributes of sheaf of grain and raining jewels associate her with fertility and wealth, while the manuscript associates her with scholarly wisdom. Because of her connection to the land, she is a particularly popular household deity in agrarian-based areas. While the six-armed form seen here is typical for images of Vasudhara from Nepal, it is rarely found in bronzes of Eastern India.

For a similar treatment of the dhoti in a figure of Avalokiteshvara from the same region, see P. Pal, Indian Sculpture, vol. 2, 1988, p. 170, cat. no. 76