NEW YORK, 7 MARCH 2016 – Sotheby’s spring offering of Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Works of Art Including Property from the Estate of Dr. Claus Virch features Buddhist, Hindu, Mughal and Jain devotional works of art, including several significant sculptures.

Formerly on loan to the Brooklyn Museum, this Fine Sedimentary Stone Stele Depicting Scenes from the Life of Buddha hails from 11/12th Century Eastern India (estimate $100/150,000). Part of a small group of miniature sculptures carved during the Pala period, these steles served as a memento for pilgrims making their way from Eastern India to Tibet and Burma. This shrine beautifully depicts Buddha’s triumph over Mara while seated beneath the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya. The Buddha reflects the stylistics traits associated with the image of Buddha in the Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya.

This very fine and rare Qianlong-period bronze depicting Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, reflects earlier eastern Indian sculptural traditions (estimate $250/350,000). Large parcel-gilt bronzes such as this were popular with the Qianlong emperor, who commissioned quantities of statues in this elegant style representing buddhas, bodhisattvas and deities from the Tibetan pantheon. The emperor was fascinated with ancient bronzes from India, Kashmir and Nepal that had accumulated in the court and Chinese monastery collections, and this extraordinary bronze is a testament to that artistic legacy.

The Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Works of Art sale also features this Gilt-Bronze Figure Depicting a Dakini from Tibet, 16th/17th Century (estimate $250/350,000), likely part of a larger sculptural group that centered upon Chakrasamvara and his consort Vajravarahi. What makes this cast-bronze representation of a Dakini so remarkable is the attention to detail: the lotus placed at the crown of the head behind the tiara with its pearl and foliate clasp, its elaborate jewels and ornaments, and the skull garland wrapped around her neck.

Ritual objects, sculptures, paintings, thangkas and miniature paintings from the Estate of Dr. Claus Virch are also on offer in this diverse sale of Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Works of Art. The exhibition will open to the public on 10 March, with the sale commencing at 10am on 16 March, followed by a second session at 2pm.