NEPAL, 14TH CENTURY

This gilt stupa is cast with a circular base with steps rising from a lotus frieze. The main dome of the stupa is surmounted by an inlaid pedestal and ends in a narrow canopy with a jeweled tip. Stupas form an important category in Himalayan Buddhist art, as they are memorials to the enlightenment of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni. Approaching the end of his life, the Buddha asked that his remains be cremated and spread across the eight kingdoms of his followers in India and Nepal. The form of the stupa was derived from the domed mounds of earth that entombed the relics of the Buddha, and for centuries before the development of iconic images of the Buddha, the circumambulation or worship of the stupa was one of the ways to venerate the Buddha. Over time the stupa assumed many forms across many cultures. This scaled-down model in gilt-bronze, possibly for a personal shrine, serves the same function of housing holy relics, but its higher purpose is to evoke the presence of the Buddha and his teachings. Compare the circular base, the compressed dome, and the canopy with a Tibetan stupa sold at Christie’s New York, 28 September 2022, lot 52, for $10,080.