The Gilder's Studio Select Art

Gilding Arts Studio

Open Studio and Exhibition of Sacred Buddhist Art for the 21st Century runs through to the end of October 2010. The pieces shown here on this page will be on display and available for purchase. Please enquire for more info about these and other pieces, workshops or gilding projects.

Location: Alfred Hallett Studio, Valley View Cottage on Upper Dharamkot.

Gilded Stone Plaque

Queen Maya and the birth of Prince Siddhartha

Fine Gold, 18 karat Green Gold, also Rose and White Gold.

Pearls, Onyx and Lapis Lazuli

(from a copper repousse mold)

Size 8 inches dia.

Gilt Bronze

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

Shakyamuni Buddha in Bhumishparsha Mudra

Fine Gold, White, Red and Moon Gold

size 10" x 8 "

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.

for info and more repoussé - click here

Copper Repoussé

Shakyamuni

24kt Fine Goldleaf, Rose Gold, and White Gold

Embossed Copper Repousse

Manjushri

size 11" x 13.5"

1.3 kg

Clockwise from top center: Wish-Fulfilling Gem, Apsara, Dragon, Elephant, Snow Lion, Apsara, Kirtimukha, Apsara, Tiger, Windhorse, Garuda, Apsara

Stone Tsatsa

Chintamani Avalokitesvara - Chenrezig

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.

for more tsatsa - click here

Tsatsa

Manjushri

Fine Goldleaf

size 20 cm x 23.5 cm (frame 30 x 35 cm)

Newari Throne for Tsatsa or other small piece

Kirtimukha, Nagas, and Makharas on the Torana. Elephants, Tigers and Lions on the supports and Snow Lions on the Singhasana throne.

Composite Resin

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.

for more info about these Maitreya statues - click here

Teak

Burmese Buddha Throne

1.20 metre (height 48 inches)

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.

wings

Gilt Copper Repoussé

Green Tara

with

Celestial Buddhas

Tara

Gilt Bronze

Green Tara

27 cm x 20.3 cm x 16.25 cm (10.6" height)

3.2 kg

enlarge +

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 oneHEARTworldwide project in Nepal
“Saving the lives of women and children one birth at a time”.

Gilt Copper Repoussé

Makara with foliate tail

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