Powerfully cast despite its small size, Padmapani Lokeshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, is seated in a languid lalitasana pose. His benevolent gaze and slight grin both veer leftward, an assured expression surmounted by an elaborate topknot of dreadlocks (jatas). A long lotus stem wraps around his left wrist, while the other lotus stalk grows from the base. Two bands of wonderfully flared petals build the signature Pala-style double lotus base, framed by heavy beaded rims.
This refined bronze is product of the important Pala dynasty that flourished in eastern India from the eighth to the twelfth century — one of the last strongholds of Buddhism in India, as the subcontinent became increasingly Hindu by the eleventh century. The period saw a surge in travel in the region among Buddhist practitioners and laypeople to sacred sites associated with Buddha Shakyamuni. With this came the expanded propagation of Buddhist texts and religious icons, particularly bronze sculpture, which were easily transported by pilgrims. As a result, Pala bronze work achieved an exceptional level of sophistication and to this day, is revered as one of the golden eras of the Indian sculptural tradition.
The Pala style traveled from India to Nepal, China and Tibet, and served as an important foundation for sculptural and painting traditions in subsequent centuries. The double-lotus base over the stepped plinth is, for instance, a widely-used style created during this period and emulated widely for many centuries thereafter. The lasting influence is clear as even much later Tibetan workshops continued to emulate Pala styles; for example, see a seventeenth-to-eighteenth century Tibetan bronze figure of Padmapani sold at Christie’s New York 20 March 2019, lot 616 (Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 24470), demonstrating clear Pala influences through the figure’s languid pose, double lotus base, and heavy lotus stalks flanking either shoulder, hallmarks of the Pala style. Also compare the present lot to a contemporaneous figure of Padmapani, sold at Christie’s New York, 22 September 2021, lot 406, for $75,000. Both works demonstrate the Pala artists' masterful casting of languorous poses and similar stylistic elements such as the flared petals, beaded rims, and fashioning of the lotus stalks.