PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Asia

Tara, also known as Jetsun Dölma in Tibetan Buddhism, is a female Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism who appears as a female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism. She is known as the mother of liberation, and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. She is known as Tara Bosatsu in Japan, and occasionally as Duō luó Púsà in Chinese Buddhism. The emergence of Green Tara, according to the holy script, comes from the time when Avalokiteshvara saw the anguish of the myriads of being, and tears sprang to his eyes. A teardrop from his left eye fell upon the plain and became the reverend Green Tara. Therefore Tara also became to be seen as an expression of the compassion.

This figure is seated in lalitasana on a double-lotus base, the right hand held in varadamudra and the left raised to the chest in vitarkamudra , both supporting uptala lotuses rising to the shoulders along the elbows, wearing a dhoti and a loose shawl over the shoulder, adorned with bejewelled necklaces around the waist and the chest, the face with a benevolent expression, crowned with a five-leaf tiara in front of a high chignon. The serene expression is flanked by a pair of long pendulous earlobes and surmounted by tightly knotted hair and an ushnisha . On her head she wears a fivepointed crown and a stupa atop the high jatamukata , the figure elaborately adorned with beaded jewelry including necklaces and bracelets. This figure of Green Tara is exquisitely made with dynamics and fluid posture and the elegant beauty of femininity, her expression full of compassion portrayed so vividly that makes it a truly valuable addition to any collection of Qianlong period figures of Buddha.