Please i need your help to id this large old oriental statue

Hello friends,

I would need your precious help to date, identify, and attribute a provenance,

as regards this huge Asian statue in bronze or similar metal.

It is 57 cm high and live is very impressive.

The weight is almost 4 KG.

The base is filled with a sort of "cement"

to attribute weight and make it stable.

It seems rather old.

On the top of the base, I seem to see a kind of incision, punching,

I look like Asian characters, not sure, but I can not see very well,

I made some pictures.

I hope I can get some information,

as I should create a description and I would like to be able to say something more.

Thanks to everyone in advance, both for your time and for your help.

Gian

 

@Any Jewelry....

 

Hi,
Looks like spleter to me instead of bronze. The roughness around some of the casting makes me think that. It is a beautiful study. I would give it house room in a second.
greg

 

It is a Sino-Tibetan standing Tara. The stuff inside is the clay core around which the metal was poured into the mold.

Tara is the main Goddess in Himalayan Buddhism, symbol of peace, wisdom and enlightenment. What more do you want.

Your Tara was made copying the old, traditional style, but it is fairly recent. These are still being made, in increasing numbers. That is due to her popularity in the West, so she should do well in auction.

 

Forgot to say, Sino-Tibetan is a mix of Chinese and Tibetan styles.

The presence of the clay core means she was never made for devotion. Devotional Himalayan statues are hollow so mantra's or other religiously important things can be placed inside, after which the base is closed with an engraved sheet of metal.

 

Hello @Any Jewelry circa wich period do you think it belongs ? 19th or 20th ? (for my descriprion) Thanks so much

 

Hi Gian, second half 20th.
Good luck! As I said, she should do well. On top of that she has a sweet face, that always helps.

 

ok thanks so much, as usual you're great !

 

As I understand it, provenance is where the piece came from, its history, and how it got to you. That is something you have to find by taking to the people you bought it from. I could be wriong but that is what I think it means

 

You are absolutely right. Who owned it before you, was it sold by a reputable dealer, etc.
Most pieces don't come with a real provenance, and in mass produced pieces it doesn't really matter. Except if it was owned by someone really famous.

 

Yes you're both right, please forgive my English, when I was speaking of provenance I meaned its origin, when it borned

 

IMHO this is a recent Chinese copy of the traditional bronzes, and not a very good one. The artisan does not seem to have had a good grasp of the tradition. For example, Tara usually has a graceful, contrapposto stance. This one is standing bolt upright. The left arm is very awkward, and the right hand does not complete the appropriate mudra gesture (the thumb and index finger should be closer to touching). The earrings on this piece do not go through the ears - they somehow perch in front of them. The details on the lotus base do not continue around the back of the statue. And the streaky patination is a poor attempt at making it appear antique.
This is an example of a more traditional, and better executed, Tara:

https://auction.catawiki.com/kavels...tue-bronze-copper-tibet-2nd-half-20th-century

 

Hello,
I was posting it on catawiki but Surya Rutten wrote me as the following

"Dear seller,

This is bodhisattva Padmapani from 2nd half 20th century from Nepal.
Please modify the description.

Thank you in advance.
Surya Rutten”

I'm a bit confused now

Which is your point of view

Thanks

 

Your girl is pretty chesty for Padmapani, who is a male figure:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38335

But if that is the way the auctioneer wants it, I would just do it.

Nepali figures are more elegant, and their faces are slightly less broad than the Sino-Tibetan ones.
The straighter, more rigid posture, and the broader face of your girl are typical of Sino-Tibetan. The Nepalis make replicas of different styles, but in this case I don't see any reason to assume it is Nepal made.

 

That is odd, as the example I found and posted was also listed on catawiki and correctly described as Tara. In that case, the expert was Sarah Le Helley. If you wanted to contest the identification, you might appeal to her. You could at least point out that Avalokiteshvara Padmapani is male, as @Any Jewelry has said, and that your statue is female. https://www.himalayanart.org/items/87410
I don't know how catawiki works, but presumably there is some responsibility on the seller to provide an accurate description. So it does not seem right to go along with a misidentification.

 

thanks so much @Any Jewelry and @2manybooks .
I will try to convince them..... you know.... they are so touchy sometime .....

Ok

 

APPROVED !!! Tara !!! Thanks so much for your great help !

 

Yay!

 

Side comment: CATAWIKI's "experts" are, very often, far from being experts at all. My personal experience at least.