Country Group: The Himalayas (Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia and Other)

Item id: 8327

All-time personal favorite- deeply intelligent 18thC or earlier Tibetan deity with consort. Mercury gilded (except for eyes), which gives it an unusually penetrating gaze. Quality is exceptional. This piece is 5.5 inches tall, 7 inches on custom stand. If this piece does not sell within a month I will probably remove it from the website and move it to my personal collection. Note the incredible finesse to each and every finger- the expressiveness and liveliness they convey is remarkable in every single hand (same with feet and toes). The posture of the actual figure also conveys a remarkable energy-one that challenged the base maker, who wanted to both enhance the beauty of the piece while doing his best to “staying out of the way”. The resulting custom base is quite successful. Note the small severed heads-often depicted as skulls- here shown as well modeled, nearly alive heads –each with a distinct face.. The entire piece could do with a professional cleaning, which would reveal a considerable amount of additional gilding in areas which now look as if the gilding may be worn (and it is not), as well as detail throughout that is now covered in dirt. As I know many people like to leave pieces “as found”, I decided to leave this for the next owner to decide. The consort is also well modeled and has a lovely face, something which is often overlooked on this type of statue, as often all of the attention is given to the face of the main deity. Finally, step back at look at the overall figure. While it has a lot going on with so many arms and legs in movement and hair flying as stylized flames, yet the entire thing has a beautiful sculptural balance only found on great sculpture. I’ve gone on about this piece because obviously I like it very much.