A rare gilt-bronze figure of White TaraBeijing or Inner Mongolia, 17th century
Richly gilt and finely cast seated in dhyanasana, her right hand lowered in varada mudra and her left raised in prithvi mudra, both palms and soles depicted with additional eyes, wearing a diaphanous robe falling in rippling pleats, embellished with bejewelled necklace, armlets, bracelets and bangles with a long strand of pearls draping over her breasts and down to her navel, the face with a serene expression centered by the third eye, the hair tied in a tall chignon supporting a jewel atop a lotus flower with locks cascading down her neck and shoulders.
35.3cm (13 7/8in) high (2).注脚北京或內蒙古 十七世紀 銅鎏金白度母坐像

Provenance:
Mr Cheng Huan S.C., Hong Kong, by repute

來源：
傳香港資深大律師清洪舊藏

The present figure shares aesthetic aspects such as the tall chignon and the heavily draped robes characteristic of the figures created in or around the thriving Buddhist centre of Dolonnor in Inner Mongolia. The city as a site of cultural exchange between the imperial court and the Mongols received strong patronage from the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors.

Compare with a closely related gilt-bronze figure of Ushnishavijaya in the Dunhuang Research Academy, illustrated in Gansu wenwu jinghua (Selected Cultural Relics from the Gansu Province), Beijing, 2006, no.308, showing similar treatment of the beaded necklace, armlets and bracelets, as well as drapery. See also another related gilt-bronze figure of White Tara, Mongolia, 17th century, which was sold at Christie's New York, 19 March 2013, lot 331. Compare also with a gilt-bronze figure of Green Tara, Mongolia, 18th century, which was sold at Christie's London, 14 May 2019, lot 262.

此尊白度母頭結高髻，髮披兩肩，染紺藍，開臉祥和，柳眉垂目，額開豎眼，雙耳垂肩，項戴瓔珞，臂套約束，豐乳細腰，右手施予願印，左右施無畏印，掌心各有一眼，雙腿盤結，腳掌心亦有一眼，衣衫墜地，通體鎏金，眉目加彩，莊嚴生動。

造像身具七眼，為白度母法相標識，又稱七眼佛母，為觀世音菩薩方便化身。此件白度母有內蒙古屬京多倫諾爾地區造像風格，可參考一件敦煌研究院藏的明代鎏金尊勝佛母像，其項鍊、臂釧之樣式均與本品類似，出版於甘肅省文物局編，《甘肅文物菁華》，北京，2006年，編號308。另見十七世紀蒙古銅鎏金白度母，2013年3月19日售於紐約佳士得，拍品編號331。另有一件十八世紀蒙古銅鎏金綠度母像由倫敦佳士得售出，2019年5月14日，拍品編號262。