A rare copper alloy figure of Ugra Tara, Nepal, 16th century | 尼泊爾 十六世紀 合金銅度母立像

German Private Collection, 1960s.

Bonhams, London, 23th April 2013, lot 279.

Joost Van den Bergh, London.

Theresa McCullough, London.

Christophe Hioco, Paris, 23th January 2022.

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德國私人收藏，1960年代

倫敦邦瀚斯，2013年4月23日，編號279

Joost Van den Bergh藝廊，倫敦

Theresa Mc Cullough藝廊，倫敦

Christophe Hioco藝廊，巴黎，2022年1月23日

The fearsome goddess holding a sword (khadja) and flower bud in her upper hands, a flaying knife (kartrika) and skull bowl (kapala) in her lower hands, wearing a tiger-skin dhoti, a garland of severed human heads, snake earrings, necklace, bracelets, armbands and anklets, a skull crown with jewelled panels, and standing in a militant posture (pratyalidhasana) trampling a naked male corpse on a separately cast tantric diagram (yantra) supported by four crouching lions.

This extremely rare Nepalese copper alloy figure depicts Ugra Tara as one of the ten Wisdom Goddesses (mahavidya) in the Hindu Shakti tradition. The goddess is revered as a fierce manifestation of Parvati, the consort of Shiva. Compare a very similar Nepalese example, formerly with Galerie Marco Polo, Paris, in Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, pl. 99E.