TIBET XVIIIe - XIXe SIÈCLE

Set of two subjects in repoussé and hammered copper, gilded with mercury, representing a couple of deer (in Tibetan: Mriga) kneeling, head erect, looking upwards; eyes, ears, mouth, hooves and underside of the tail enhanced with red and black pigments; a cavity in the lower part of their belly may contain sutras. H. 38,5 cm each - L. 45,5 cm (Shock) PROVENANCE Private Parisian collection of Mr. L. constituted over three generations since the end of the 19th century. Invoice dated July 28, 1937 at L. MICHON, 156 boulevard Haussmann in Paris (75008). Second line. WORKS IN RELATION Work to bring closer to the lot 27 of the sale "Arts of Asia" of December 11, 2020 at Sotheby's Paris. Work to be compared with lot 85 of the sale "Arts d'Asie" of December 16, 2010 at Sotheby's Paris. N.B. A pair of male and female kneeling deer (mriga) worshipping a wheel of the law (dharmachakra) is one of the earliest emblems of Buddhism, seen carved on Kushan period (1st-3rd c) Buddhist sculpture, such as a Gandhara schist panel in the British Museum, see W. Zwalf, Gandhara Sculpture in the British Museum, London, 1996, Vol. I, pl. IX, cat. no. 199. The deer symbolizes the First Sermon given by the historical Buddha shortly after he attained enlightenment at the vajrasana site in Bodh Gaya. The Buddha is said to have taught the Four Noble Truths to disciples gathered in the deer park (mrigadawa) at Sarnath. The deer are said to have been attracted by the Buddha's serene presence and joined the disciples. The male and female deer together symbolize harmony and fidelity, and in Chinese mythology are symbols of longevity. Gilt copper deer flanking a dharmachakra wheel are often placed on altars or monastery roofs in Tibet, Mongolia and China, such as those above the gates of the Jokhang, Lhasa, see Giuseppe Tucci, Tibet: Land of Snows, Calcutta, Bombay, New Delhi, 1967, p. 62, pl. 24. Gilt copper deer are often depicted in a recumbent posture with all four legs folded beneath the bodies, such as the pair sold in these rooms, December 16, 2010, lot 85, while those kneeling with only their front legs folded, like the present examples, are rare, cf. the similar kneeling posture of a gilt copper single-horned male deer from the collection of Eduard von der Heydt in Museum Rietberg, see Blanche Christine Olschak, Mystic Art of Ancient Tibet, Boston & London, 1987, p. 56. It should be noted that in most of the known examples, in situ in monasteries or in museums, the deer are shown lying down, with all four legs tucked under their bodies. It is rare to see them only kneeling. Moreover, the male often has a horn on his forehead. A great symbol of Buddhism through the ages, this type of object is found above the entrance to monasteries or on altars in Tibet, Nepal, China and Mongolia. They are placed on either side of a wheel of the Law (Dharmaçakra), symbolizing the historical Buddha's First Sermon to his disciples, when he, after attaining enlightenment in Bodhgaya, went to the gazelle park in Sarnath, near Benares, India, to deliver his first teaching. This was around the 6th or 5th century BC. The religious form of Buddhism will then gradually spread in India, then towards the East, arriving in China in a way attested in the 2nd century of our era to reach Korea and Japan in the 6th century. However, it is only around our era that the Buddha appears in an anthropomorphic form. On the first illustrated Buddhist monuments, he is represented only through a set of symbols and conventions, in connection with the events of his life or his teaching. Thus, the imprint of a foot or the empty throne, to suggest his presence; the stupa, containing his relics, evoking his parinirvana; a horse carrying a parasol, recalling his departure from his father's royal palace, when he decided to renounce his life as a prince to become an ascetic; the lotus, evoking the purity that arises from the turbid waters from which the flower rises. But the wheel, çakra, remains unquestionably the most important symbol of Buddhism, carrying within it the essence, the teaching of the Buddha. It is the Wheel of the Law, Dharmaçakra, whose setting in motion represents this teaching. Thus, when the Buddha gave his First Sermon in the gazelle park in Sarnath, he set the Wheel of the Law in motion for the first time. Later, when he is represented in anthropomorphic form, one of his main mudras will be "Dharmaçakra mudra", the gesture (of setting in motion) the Wheel of the Law. The pair of deer or gazelles appearing on either side of a Wheel of the Law symbolizes both the First Sermon and the Buddha's disciples receiving and revering his teaching.