Himalayan regions. The figure made of several repoussé and cast sections that have been joined together with nails, the Guru seated on a large lotus base with foliate petals and beaded rims, wearing monastic robes with a prominent foliate hemline, his right hand raised holding a vajra and his left resting in his lap supporting a kapala.

He wears a lotus hat with a stupa-form finial and his face is defined by almond eyes centered by an urna, with bow-shaped lips, and flanked by pendulous earlobes ornamented with large circular earrings. The tall crown with three flanges decorated with dense scrollwork and centered by the sun and moon symbol. The reverse is set with two loops. The base sealed and incised at the center with a blossom.

Provenance: The Kienzle Family Collection, Stuttgart, Germany. Acquired between 1950 and 1985 by siblings Else (1912-2006), Reinhold (1917-2008), and Dr. Horst Kienzle (1924-2019), during their extensive travels in Asia. Subsequently inherited by Dr. Horst Kienzle and bequeathed to the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Radevormwald, Germany. Released through museum deaccession in 2024. The Kienzle siblings were avid travelers and passionate collectors of Asian and Islamic art. During their travels, the Kienzle’s sought out and explored temples, monasteries, and markets, always trying to find the best pieces wherever they went, investing large sums of money and forging lasting relationships to ensure they could acquire them. Their fervor and success in this pursuit is not only demonstrated by their collection but further recorded in correspondences between Horst Kienzle and several noted dignitaries, businesses and individuals in Nepal and Ladakh. Their collection had gained renown by the 1970s, but the Kienzle’s stopped acquiring new pieces around 1985. Almost thirty years later, the collection was moved to the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Radevormwald, opened by Peter Hardt in 2014. Before his death in 2019, Horst Kienzle bequeathed his entire property to Peter Hardt and legally adopted him as his son, who has been using the name Peter Kienzle-Hardt ever since.
Condition: Very good condition with expected ancient wear, few dents, small nicks, few tiny fissures, some warping, remnants of gilt and pigments. The copper with a fine, naturally grown, dark patina.

Weight: 6.3 kg
Dimensions: Height 54 cm

The elaborate lobed petals of the lotus pedestal are commonly associated with Bhutanese sculpture, see Terese Tse Bartholomew and John Johnston, eds., The Dragons’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan, Chicago, 2008, p. 201, cat. no. 24. Padmasambhava, the “Lotus Born”, or Guru Rimpoche as he is commonly known in Tibetan, is revered throughout the Himalayas. Whether made for a Bhutanese, Tibetan, or a patron from other Himalayan regions such as the Nepalese/Tibetan borders, the artist was almost certainly Newar, the acknowledged masters of repoussé metalwork.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related, slightly later copper alloy figure of Padmasambhava, 73.3 cm high, dated to the 19^th century, in the Rubin Museum of Art, object number C2006.66.644.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Paris, 14 June 2024, lot 212
Price: EUR 27,600
Description: A large gilt-copper repoussé figure of Padmasambhava, Himalayan regions, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling with similar pose, hems, accessories, and size (50 cm). Note the gilding.