A gilt-copper alloy figure of Tara, Nepal, Licchavi period, circa 8th / 9th century

Collection of Peng Kai-dong, alias Nitta Muneichi (1912-2006), acquired in the 1950s and 60s.

The goddess is depicted standing in subtle tribhanga on a circular lotus, her head framed by a flaming halo, and dressed in a patterned lower garment secured with a jewelled girdle, a sash across the upper torso with the scarf end at her left side, and adorned with a three-panel crown, a beaded necklace, a gem set earring to the left and a tubular ear ornament to the right. Compare the hand gestures and posture of an early Nepalese Tara included in the exhibition Nepal: Where the Gods are Young, Asia House Gallery, New York, 1975, cat. no. 37.

The present asymmetric ear ornament design appears in sculpture of Himalayan kingdoms such as the Patola Shahi of the Greater Kashmir region and the Licchavis of Nepal in the seventh and eighth century, and is likely to reflect contemporaneous regal adornment styles. Compare, for example, the ear ornaments of donors depicted on seventh or eighth century relief carvings at Chabahil, Kathmandu, see Pratapaditya Pal, The Arts of Nepal: Sculpture, Brill, 1974, pls. 159 and 161.

This selection of Buddhist bronze figures emanates from the collection of Nitta Muneichi (1912-2006), who was born in Taipei as Peng Kai-dong, but left Taipei for Japan as an adolescent and later took on a Japanese name. He became a highly successful businessman with a company covering a wide range of different industries. After the Second World War, he opened an antique shop on Ginza in Tokyo and in 1950 he began collecting Buddhist bronzes, which eventually became his main collecting interest. An exhibition of his collection was held at the National Palace Museum, Taipei in 1987 (The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom). In 2003 he donated 358 Buddhist bronzes from East, Southeast and South Asia to the National Palace Museum, which exhibited them in 2004, including a similar standing Acuoye Avalokiteśhvara (The Casting of Religion. A Special Exhibition of Mr. Peng Kai-dong’s Donation, cat. no. 161). A further donation of forty-eight pieces was made after his death. The superb Dali gilt-bronze seated figure of Avalokiteshvara, Acuoye Guanyin, formerly in the Nitta collection, was sold in our Hong Kong rooms from the collection of Sir Joseph Hotung, 8th October 2022, lot 10 for a record price.