NEPAL, EARLY MALLA PERIOD, 13TH CENTURY

Richly cast in gilt-copper alloy, the present image of Vasudhara, the goddess of fertility and wealth, is a paragon of Nepalese sculpture and embodies the mastery of early Malla period (1200-1482) bronze casting. While there are various iconographic forms of Vasudhara throughout South Asia, the six-armed seated image is most prevalent in Nepal, where she is celebrated as a goddess of fertility and the land. The attributes she holds – the sheaf of grain, the vase of immortality, the string of jewels – all signify her role as a bestower of munificent wealth and fecundity.
Nepalese sculpture in the period after the twelfth century exhibits an important stylistic shift from the aesthetic of the earlier Licchavi and transitional periods, which was rooted in the forms of Gupta India. While Licchavi-period bronzes are celebrated for their elegantly languorous figures, by the thirteenth century, the new sculptural style is characterized by intricate detail and lavish ornamentation.
The present figure of Vasudhara perfectly embodies this new aesthetic in all its glory. Seated in lalitasana, her six arms radiate fluidly from broad shoulders - the lower two relaxed in her lap, the upper four animatedly raised - creating a muscular arch in her back. Her ample bust gives way to a tapered waist and full hips. Her pendant leg, gently resting on a lotus blossom, suggests movement while her proper left leg is delicately tucked beneath her. Her body is both robust and elegant, her posture dynamic and graceful. The artist of this masterful image perfectly merges the voluminous contours of the early Gupta style with the refined intricacy of his time.
Adding to the present figure’s distinctive beauty is her wide, almost rectangular face, which tilts gracefully downwards. Compare the almond-shaped eyes, long aquiline nose and small mouth - features reminiscent of Pala-period prototypes - with a twelfth-century gilt-copper figure of Vasudhara, originally from the Pan Asian Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 16 September 2008, lot 511. Compare, also, with slightly-later dated examples at the Cleveland Museum of Art (acc. no. 1947.493) and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 1983.547) (fig. 1), the latter of which is illustrated by C. Reedy in Himalayan Bronzes: Technology, Style, and Choices, Newark, 1997, p. 237, fig. 273.
This is an exceptionally fine example of its type with elegant fluid lines, sensuous modeling and delicate ornamentation; compare also with the 12th century example from the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, in P. Pal, Art of Nepal, 1985, cat. no. S24, p. 104, and with another example dated to the 11th century, in P. Pal, Himalayas, An Aesthetic Adventure, 2003, cat. no. 19, p. 43, with a more elongated torso, while the limbs are more elongated in the present example and elegantly highlighted with the longitudinally incised bands.