TIBET, 15TH CENTURY

This rare and exceptionally-cast figure depicts Maha Pratisara, one of the five Pancha Raksha deities that are considered Protector goddesses and personifications of early Buddhist sutras. More specifically, they relate to the chants contained within the respective sutras that were invoked for certain worldly aspirations or to ward off dangers. Maha Pratisara is associated with the Vajrapanjara tantra, a body of teachings going back as early as the sixth century CE. Pratisara’s iconography is described as holding a sword aloft in her right hand and holding an eight-spoked wheel in her left, as displayed in the present work. Aside from depicting a rare deity, the present bronze is distinguished by its particularly fine metal-casting techniques: the dhoti is decorated by alternating bands of silver and copper inlays, with additional circular inlays between the bands. The eight-spoked wheel held at the chest is inlaid with an incised silver plaque, and the goddess' necklaces are lavishly inlaid with roughly cut turquoise. Most strikingly, Pratisara’s face is heightened with delicate copper-inlaid lips and silver and copper-inlaid eyes. The overall result is one of glimmering ornamentation against the soft tone of the bronze.