A BRONZE FIGURE OF ACHALA, TIBET, PALA STYLE, 13TH-14TH CENTURY

Finely cast brandishing a sword above his head while extending his left index finger in a threatening gesture (tarjani mudra), standing astride atop the prostate Ganesha on a tall double lotus base with beaded rims. He is dressed in a tiger skin and anklets in form of snakes, wearing elaborate and beaded jewelry, the face with a wrathful expression, three eyes framed by bushy brows, flanked by elongated earlobes with snake-form earrings, and surmounted by a foliate crown. His left elbow supports a lasso that is tied into a knot.

The base is sealed and incised with two Tibetan numbers ‘16’ to the base and front. Note the thick beading to the base, typical of the early Pala style.

Provenance: From a private collection in Turin, Italy.
Condition: Good condition with minor wear, casting irregularities, few nicks, light scratches, small dents, the left arm renewed, and with remnants of lacquer and gilt.

Weight: 693.8 g
Dimensions: Height 15.4 cm

Achala, the Immovable One, is a meditational deity (yidam) tasked with holding the sacred ground of a mandala and safeguarding vulnerable practitioners from evil forces as the Remover of Obstacles. In Hinduism, this role is reserved for the elephant-headed god Ganesha, who is represented here as the Creator of Obstacles.

This early standing form of Acala was popularized by Atisha (982-1054), the founder of the Kadampa School, and by Lobpon Sonam Tsemo (1142-1182) of the Sakya School. It was succeeded by a kneeling form promulgated by the Sakya, come the 14th century.

Inspired by the many portable bronzes that Tibetan pilgrims brought from Northeastern India, this sculpture represents an early Tibetan image drawing heavily on the models of the Pala style of the 12th century. Examples of such Pala bronzes preserved in Lhasa monasteries are published in von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol. II, 2001, II, p. 1113, nos. 291B-D. See another example formerly in the Claude de Marteau Collection at Bonhams Hong Kong, 6 October 2023, lot 1. Compared with later Tibetan bronzes, the present figure exhibits a restraint of ornamentation that was informed by an Indian emphasis on the beauty, strength, and power of the relatively unclad divine body.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 26 September 2023, lot 374
Price: USD 13,680 or approx. EUR 13,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze figure of Achala, Tibet, 14th-15th century
Expert remark: Compare the similar treatment of the loincloth and the warm color of the bronze. Note the related size (16.5 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 26 September 2023, lot 313
Price: USD 23,940 or approx. EUR 23,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze figure of Chakrasamvara Heruka, Tibet, 12^th-13^th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related manner of casting with a similar reddish coppery bronze, wrathful expression, and size (15.6 cm).