STATUE DE MANJUSHRI EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE TIBET, XIVE SIÈCLESTATUE DE MANJUSHRI EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRETIBET, XIVE SIÈCLEHimalayan Art Resources item no. 4841 28.5 cm (11 1/4 in.) high A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF MANJUSHRITIBET, 14TH CENTURY西藏 十四世紀 文殊菩薩銅像Provenance: With Claude de Marteau, New York, by 1967Seated in the diamond attitude (vajrasana) and wielding a sword above his head, Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, cuts through ignorance with the downward slash of his blade. In his left hand, he pinches the stem of a blue lily, which blooms his main attribute: the rectangular, palm-leaf pages of the Prajnaparamita-sutra or the Perfection of Wisdom sutra. Several of the bronze's stylistic features derive from northeast Indian art of the Pala period, such as the lithe torso, the exaggerated dip in the eyelids, and the puckered smile. Indian bronzes with these characteristics include a figure of Manjushri in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, published in Pal,Indian Sculpture, Volume 2: circa 700-1800, 2003, pp. 185, no. 87, and a brass image of Maitreya formerly of the Nyingjei Lam Collection sold at Bonhams, New York, 23 September 2020, lot 604. Moreover, the use of metal rods to stabilize the crown, the manner in which the tall flanking lotus stems add structural support for the figure, and the bulbous petals around the base are common features of an early Tibetan sculptural style informed by its neighbors that was cast in a non-gilded brassy alloy. This type of Tibetan craftsmanship, popular during the 13th and 14th centuries, is further exemplified by two brass images located in the Shalu Monastery (von Schroeder,Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, vol. II, 2001, pp. 1183, nos. 318D & E).