Pratapaditya Pal: Roshan Sabavala’s Tryst with Himalayan Art

Lot 72: Crowned Buddha
Gilt-bronze with applied pigment, inlaid with semi-precious stones
Nepal
15th or 16th Century
Height 8 ⅝ in. (22 cm.)

The Buddha is seated in dhyanasana on a double-lotus vajra throne, his left hand in dhyanamudra and his right hand in bhumisparsamudra. He is clad in a simple monastic robe with a beaded border that drapes gently over the arm. A thunderbolt sceptre, vajra, rests on the throne in front of his feet as a symbol of his enlightened mind. His face is serene with downcast eyes, a raised urna on the forehead inset with turquoise, his neck with three horizontal lines, and the ears with pendulous pierced lobes. His head is adorned by an elaborate foliate crown also inset with turquoise, and his tight curling hair is surmounted by a tall ushnisha.