A PARCEL-GILT SILVER FIGURE OF MANJUSHRINEPAL, 9TH/10TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.68439
6.5 cm (2 5/8 in.) high注脚Published
David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, p.70, fig.41.
Franco Ricca, Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell'Himalaya, Turin, 2004, fig. IV.9.

Exhibited
Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell'Himalaya, Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin, 18 June – 19 September 2004.
Wutaishan: Pilgrimage to Five Peak Mountain, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 10 May 2007 – 16 October 2007.
Casting the Divine: Sculptures of the Nyingjei Lam Collection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2 March 2012 – 11 February 2013.

Provenance
The Nyingjei Lam Collection
On loan to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1996-2005
On loan to the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2005-2019

Solidly cast in parcel-gilt silver, the weight and jewel-like quality of this diminutive sculpture conveys a much larger presence. The lower garment is meticulously incised and gilded, and the jewelry is well-defined, striking a contrast with the bare and sensuous torso and limbs. Easily held in one's hand, the sculpture is intimate and a joy to engage with, which explains its heavily rubbed surface from sustained propitiation, resulting in a desirable smooth patina.
 
The sculpture represents Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Perfected Wisdom, in a rare form deriving from Mahayana Buddhist literature. Unlike his common, sword-brandishing iconography, Manjushri sits here in a relaxed posture with his right hand extended in the wish-fulfilling gesture and his left holding a blue lotus in bloom by his left shoulder. Other diagnostic features include Manjushri's youthfulness, tiger-tooth pendant necklace, and the three long tufts of hair—one on top of his head and two falling to his shoulders.
 
A close stylistic parallel is a larger copper alloy figure of Manjushri, attributed to 10th-century Nepal, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1978.394.1). The copper Manjushri wears a comparable tiger-tooth necklace and holds an almost identical blue lotus in his left hand, but also has a seed or small fruit in his right hand which is not represented in the current work. The two also share a similar facial type of slightly chubby cheeks and well-defined pupils.

Compare the lozenge-shaped patterns on his lower garment and the beaded belt with circular buckle with that of a Nepalese gilt bronze Avalokiteshvara in the Nyingjei Lam Collection (Weldon & Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet, London, 1999, p.68, fig.38). Also, refer to a 10th-century Nepalese standing Manjushri, with similar armbands, hair, jewelry, and decorative lozenges in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1982.220.13), helping to inform this rare figure's 9th-/10th-century date.


局部鎏金文殊菩薩銀像
尼泊爾，九或十世紀
喜馬拉雅藝術資源網68439號
高6.5釐米（2 5/8 英吋）

1,000,000-1,500,000港幣

著錄
David Weldon與Jane Casey Singer，《The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection》，倫敦，1999年，頁70，圖41。
Franco Ricca，《Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell' Himalaya》，都靈，2004年，圖IV.9。

展覽
「Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell'Himalaya」，布里凱拉西奧宮，都靈，2004年6月18日至9月19日。
「Wutaishan: Pilgrimage to Five Peak Mountain」，魯賓藝術博物館，紐約，2007年5月10日至10月16日。
「Casting the Divine：Sculptures of the Nyingjei Lam Collection」，魯賓藝術博物館，紐約，2012年3月2日至2013年2月11日。

來源
菩薩道收藏
借展於阿什莫林博物館，牛津，1996年至2005年
借展於魯賓藝術博物館，紐約，2005年至2019年

此文殊菩薩像通尊以銀鑄造，局部鎏金色澤華貴，如寶石般流光溢彩，雖形制玲瓏，卻氣勢非凡。菩薩下身著鎏金天衣，花紋細緻，珠寶精美，與不著雕飾的簡潔軀幹和手臂相襯成趣。小巧的銀像容易置於掌中，經年累月的反复摩挲與擦拭，不僅令它成為與持有者親密無間的珍寶，更使包漿無比油潤，明快悅目。

此文殊菩薩造型以大乘佛教經典記述為據，十分罕見。不同於密宗造像中常見的揮舞長劍之姿勢，菩薩坐姿自然輕鬆，右手前伸結與願印，左手持蓮花莖，藍色蓮花盛開於肩頭。菩薩面容年輕，項鍊上綴有虎牙，髮分三綹，一盤於頭頂，二分垂於雙肩，皆為文殊菩薩特徵。

大都會博物館所藏一件十世紀尼泊爾文殊菩薩銅像（編號1978.394.1）與本拍品在風格上十分接近，其佩戴相似虎牙項鍊，左手持幾乎完全一樣的藍蓮花，只是右手中握著一枚種子或小果，本拍品則無。此外，二者面容亦相似，面頰微鼓，雙目有神。

菩薩道收藏中另有一尊尼泊爾銅鎏金觀音像，可與本拍品天衣上的菱形圖紋、珠串腰帶以及腰帶上圓形珠寶扣相較，見Weldon與Casey Singer著《The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection》， 倫敦，1999年，頁68，圖38。另參考一件大都會博物館藏十世紀尼泊爾文殊菩薩像（編號1982.220.13），其臂釧、髮式、珠寶裝飾與衣物菱形圖案均與本拍品十分相似，可佐證本尊罕見銀像應同屬九或十世紀之作。