The pieces shown here on this page are part of the exhibition "Sacred
Buddhist Art for the 21st Century". Please enquire for more info about
these artworks and how to commission a piece.
preview
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Gilded Stone
Relief
Maya Devi and the baby Prince Siddhartha
Fine Gold, 18 karat Green Gold, also Rose and White Gold.
Pearls, Onyx and Lapis Lazuli
(cast powdered stone, from a copper
repoussé mold)
Size 8 inches dia.
Queen Māyā of Sakya (Māyādevī)
was the birth mother of the historical Gautama Buddha, Siddhārtha of the
Gautama gotra, and sister of Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī the first Buddhist nun
ordained by the Buddha. "Māyā" means "illusion" or "enchantment" in
Sanskrit and Pāli. Māyā is also called Mahāmāyā ("Great Māyā") and
Māyādevī ("Queen, literally a female-deva, 'goddess,' Māyā"). Queen Mayadevi was born in Devadaha kingdom of
Nepal.
Gilt Bronze
Sculpture
Bodhisattva
This contemporary gilt bronze sculpture of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara is modeled on one of the most magnificent statues ever found in the Buddhist world.
The sculptor Jeevan Shakya from Patan, Nepal has now cast 2 versions. This smaller one, approximately 12 cm or 5 inches high, comes with a gilt (12 karat white-gold) bronze “rock-throne”. The larger one is 22 cm or 8 inches high. Jeevan is currently working on the wax model for a life-size version. The gilding is completed in the traditional way by laying fine goldleaf over a specially prepared lacquer.
The Bodhisattva sits gracefully leaning on one arm in a position that combines two standard poses; lalitasana and rajalilasana (literally in royal ease languidly, relaxed and sensual), a knee-up and leg-down posture that was first portrayed in bronzes from Sri Lanka. The sculpture displays the kataka mudra, a fist like mudra in which the fingers bend together until the thumb and the index finger meet, forming an open tube. This position is frequently used in icons in which fresh flowers or other venerated objects are inserted. The empty space in the center of the hair-piece was probably originally inset with a figure of a Buddha. Combined with the blissful calm of his serene repose is a sense of naturalism conveyed through the great care given to detailing the hair, toes, fingernails and the half-closed but alive eyes.
The original masterpiece was discovered in 1968 at Veragala Sirisangabo Vihara, Allavava, Anuradhapura District in Sri Lanka. Cast in solid bronze, with a height of 49.8 cm and dated to the late Anuradhapura Period of the 8th-9th century, it is now on display at the National Museum in Colombo. Carol Radcliffe Bolton, assistant curator for South and Southeast Asian Art at the Smithsonian writes... ”the (original) gilt bronze image of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara has been hailed as a masterpiece not only of Sri Lankan and Buddhist art, but of World Art. Indeed, its consummate grace and beauty in all details merit such praise.”
Copper
Repoussé Plaque
Shakyamuni Buddha in Bhumisparsha Mudra
Fine Gold, White, Red and Moon Gold
size 10" x 8 "
Calling the Earth to witness,
Commemorating Buddha's
victory over Mara.
Repoussé is a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is shaped by hammering from the reverse side. Chasing is the opposite technique to repoussé, and the two are used in conjunction to create a finished piece. It is also known as embossing.
While repoussé is used to work on the reverse of the metal to form a raised design on the front, chasing is used to refine the design on the front of the work by sinking the metal.
The techniques of repoussé and chasing utilise the plasticity of various metals by slowly forming the shape required, which starts by drawing the grid of the deity or other figure on the flat sheet of copper. There is no loss of metal in the process, as it is stretched and the surface remains continuous. The process is relatively slow, but a maximum of form is achieved, with one continuous surface of sheet metal of essentially the same thickness.
The techniques of repoussé have been used widely since artiquity, with gold and silver for fine detailed work and with copper, tin, and bronze for larger sculptures. In modern times, a famous contemporary sculpture created with this technique is the Statue of Liberty in Upper New York Bay. The statue was formed by copper repoussé in sections using wooden structures to shape each piece during the hammering process.
Platinum, Fine Gold,
other precious metal-leaf, and Garnets
14 inches
The
face, neck, torso, arms, hands and feet have been gilded with genuine
Platinum leaf. The crown, jewellery and lower robe were laid with 23
karat Crown or Rose Gold. A Palladium-Silver alloy 22 karat Moon Gold
was used to finish the Utpala flower, the deer-skin over the left
shoulder, the belt and lower robe trim. 18 karat Green Gold (25%
silver) finished the leaves, flower-stem, and the upper robe. White
Gold was only used for the crystal rosary. Fine Goldleaf was laid to
finish the aureoles, lotus throne and the wish-fulfilling gem.The gems
are garnets.The sculpture is created in copper repousse and has been
mounted on brocade.
Tsatsa
Manjushri
Fine Goldleaf
size 20 cm x 23.5 cm
The Practice of
making Tsatsa is a form of
traditional Buddhist art that has flourished for centuries in remote
Himalayan Buddhist kingdoms, most notably Tibet. These votive
tablets are traditionally made of clay and generally used as
offerings at shrines, but also given as gifts.
Like many Tibetan sacred objects, they are iconographic forms
representing various meditational deities and Buddhas. The
creation of sacred objects such as tsatsa, statues, and stupas
is a practice that is said to result in great merit and positive energy
for the practitioner as well as the recipient. Tsatsa make wonderful additions to an
altar, mantelpiece or any other clean, respectful location.
Most of the pieces in the Tsatsa collection are cast with a mix of gypsum or finely ground stone and various resins, thus maintaining a high quality of detail. Mixing in the ashes of loved ones or other sacred relics are frequently requested in the casting process.Tsatsa can be mounted on brocade or velvet and box-framed and hung on a wall, or placed on an altar, shrine or other suitable place.. The appropriate prayers have
been performed ensuring their power to transform an ordinary
room or a special place.
Clockwise from top center: Wish-Fulfilling Gem, Apsara, Dragon, Elephant, Snow Lion, Apsara, Kirtimukha, Apsara, Tiger, Windhorse, Garuda, Apsara
Gilt
Platinum and Fine Gold copper repoussé
wall-panel
Vajrapāni
26 x 31
cms. (10 x 12 inches)
A favourite
bodhisattva of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhists (as the power of the
Buddha, or the energy of the enlightened mind), Vajrapāni
also has a long and illustrious career in other Buddhist traditions: as
Hercules in the Gandharan; in the Pali Digha Nikaya; as guardian and
protector in the original Zen at the Shaolin Temple; as well as in the
Tibetan and Pure Land.
Non-Buddhists (and Theravadin Buddhists)
seeing Vajrapani for the first time may wonder how such a
wrathful-looking figure could possibly fit with the peaceful
associations they have with the Buddhist tradition, although such
figures are actually very common in the Mahayana and Vajrayana
traditions.Of course it’s not really possible adequately to represent
the qualities of Enlightenment in any image, and so even the peaceful
forms of Buddhas and bodhisattvas are to some extent misleading.
Enlightened beings do not, in reality,
sit around all day on lotuses smiling serenely. The Buddha himself was
fearlessly active in engaging with the other religious figures and
philosophers of his day. It’s also appropriate to represent an
Enlightened being as dancing wildly, naked and fearless! (from
WildMind.com)
Composite Resin
Sculpture
Maitreya
24 karat Fine Goldleaf
2 sizes: 15cms (6 inches) and 30 cms
(12 inches)
These
Maitreya Project statues are now available again. They are exact scale replicas of the 152 metre tall Maitreya Project statue currently being built in Kushinagar, India.
Maitreya (Pali:
Metteya) is the future Buddha of this world, a
Bodhisattva who will eventually appear on earth, achieve complete
enlightenment, and teach the pure Dharma. Maitreya Bodhisattva will be
the successor of the historic Buddha. He is predicted to be a
“world-ruler”, uniting those over whom he rules.
The crafts at
which the Burmese excel are wood carving and lacquer work. It is
natural that with this expertise, coupled with their devotion to
the Theravada Buddhist creed which considered the making and
donation of an image to be a particularly meritorious act, many
Buddha images and the thrones on which to place them came to be
made in these two materials. The use of wood for various
purposes had been known in Burma at least since Pyu times
(circa A.D. 200-900).
Unfortunately, due to the
ravages of time, insects and weather, not many early images in
wood or lacquer, that can be dated with any certainty, have
survived.
Gilt finished copper
repoussé plaque
Green Tara
with
Celestial Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas
18 karat Green Gold, 24 karat Fine Gold,
also Rose Gold and Moon Gold (Palladium)
Tara is a female Buddha. She is the "mother of
liberation", and represents the virtues of success in work and
achievements. Tara is a tantric deity whose practice is used by
practitioners of the Tibetan branch of Vajrayana Buddhism to develop
certain inner qualities and understand outer, inner and secret teachings
about compassion and emptiness.
Green Tara is Tara's most dynamic manifestation. Her colour symbolises
youthful vigour and enlightened activity. She is
often depicted in a posture of ease with right leg extended, signifying
her readiness to spring into action.
Wood Carving
Yakṣi Temple Strut
(18 in / 46 cm)
Predominately Gilt 23 karat Rose Gold with contrasting Green, White and Moon Gold (Palladium), and some Fine Gold.
This modern woodcarving from Bhaktapur, Nepal, portrays a beautiful goddess standing cross-legged under a tree in the classic pose of an Indian fertility goddess known as a yakṣi or yakṣini (a female yakṣa). The yakṣa are the attendants of Vaiśravaṇa, The Guardian of the North (aka Vessavana in Pali or Dzambala in Tibetan), and live in the forests of Mount Meru. Originally the tutelary gods of forests and villages, they were later viewed as the steward deities of the earth and the wealth buried beneath. Usually benevolent, they are the caretakers of the natural treasures hidden in the earth and tree roots. Yakṣa are usually supported by a crouching gnome under their feet, a monkey or other animal of the forest.
The association of women with trees is an ancient Indian concept which celebrates the fertility aspect of womanhood. The woodcarver has very skillfully brought this alive in his creation. Her hands are raised reaching out for the fruiting tree above her. The idea being that by their mere touch, the fertilizing power of a woman is transferred to a tree, which then bursts into flower. All things that arise from the earth in the form of vegetative life mirror the great generative function of the woman. The process of transformation that is possible in mortal woman mirrors the miracle of growth that occurs in nature.
The artist has sought to make explicit this aspect by highlighting her voluptuous yet graceful form. The perfectly symmetrical breasts are evident pointers to her nurturing potential, and the ample abdomen and hips tapering down to the sensuous thighs accentuate her child bearing capacity. The word for "flowering" and menstruation is the same in Sanskrit. In Sanskrit a menstruating woman is called a 'pushpavati', "a woman in flower". Menstruation itself is a form and a metaphor for a woman's special creativity. Thus a woman's biological and other kinds of creativity are symbolized by flowering.
The roofs of traditional Nepalese buildings are very heavy and project far beyond the bearing walls, thus requiring additional support. This is achieved by angling (at 45 degrees) a number of wooden braces or struts between wall and roof. Called tunala in Nepali, these struts are usually carved into the likenesses of gods, goddesses and yakṣi.
Proceeds from the sale of this piece will go to supporting the
oneHEARTworld-wide project in Nepal
“Saving the lives of women and children one birth at a time”.
