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Nepal, 17th-18th century. Each hollow cast in two parts, depicting a richly attired royal donor with the hands joined before the chest in anjali mudra. The male figure kneeling on both knees, wearing a finely pleated lower garment and sash, his hair arranged in prominent side knots; the female seated in lalitasana, or royal ease, with one knee raised, dressed in an elaborately patterned robe incised with foliate designs, and adorned with large circular earrings and an amulet box suspended at the chest. Their sensitively modeled faces with almond-shaped eyes beneath arched brows, straight noses, and gently smiling lips.
Each with apertures to the back of the head and upper back, four in total, all firmly sealed with copper plates. (2)
Expert’s note
Royal donor portraits formed an important part of Nepalese religious patronage, commemorating individuals who commissioned or endowed temples, shrines, and sacred images. Such figures were placed in permanent attendance before the deity, their hands joined in anjali expressing perpetual reverence and devotion. High-ranking patrons were represented in contemporary court dress and often as husband-and-wife pairs, with the male kneeling and the female seated in lalitasana, as seen here. Their sumptuous garments, jewelry, and elaborate coiffures clearly identify the present figures as members of the courtly elite.
Provenance: A private collection in Germany. AAG Auctioneers, Amsterdam, 14 November 2011, lot 24, mid-estimate EUR 9,000 or approx. EUR 12,500 (adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). A private collector from Paris, France, acquired in 2011, and thence by descent.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, casting irregularities including casting patches and old metal fills probably inherent to the manufacture, surface scratches, rubbing and losses to gilt, minute nicks, light warping, small dings. Both figures with a fine, naturally grown patina shwoing a golden-brown hue and and lustrous shine overall.
Weight: 2,439 g and 3,038 g
Dimensions: Height 24.5 cm and 20 cm
The representation of donors has deep roots in Indian religious art, where patrons were initially commemorated through dedicatory inscriptions recording their gifts and the merit thereby acquired. From at least the last centuries BC, donors, including royal patrons, also began to appear pictorially in Buddhist monuments, often shown in attitudes of reverence. This tradition was transmitted from northern India to the Kathmandu Valley during the Licchavi period (ca. 400–750), when Nepalese art was profoundly influenced by Gupta India. Donor portraits subsequently became an enduring feature of Nepalese religious art, commemorating the individuals and families who financed temples, shrines, sacred images, and other religious foundations.
Donor portraits like the present lot can be found at several important temples in Nepal, such as the great Vaishnava temple of Changu Narayan (fig. 1), located on a hilltop of Changu (Dolagiri) in the eastern Kathmandu Valley; and Kwa Baha, The Golden Temple of Nepal (fig. 2), situated in Patan.
The present figures wear the distinctive Rajput-Mughal court dress adopted by the Malla elite from northern India. Characterized by elaborate turbans and coiffures, flowing and pleated garments, sashes, rich textiles, jewelry, and other markers of courtly rank, this fashion reached Nepal during the 17th century and had become firmly established in Malla court circles by the mid- to late 1600s, remaining fashionable throughout the 18th century. Dated Nepalese donor portraits of 1672 and 1698 provide particularly close evidence for its use among the contemporary courtly elite. Royal donor figures were often conceived as ensembles, with husband and wife shown together in perpetual veneration of the deity or shrine they had endowed. Complete surviving pairs such as the present lot are rare.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related pair of gilt bronze King and Queen, Nepal, Malla period, dated 17th-18th century, exhibited in London by Joost Van den Bergh in Indian Bronze, 1-10 November 2012, no. 2. Compare a closely related gilt bronze figure of Malla Princess, Nepal, dated to the 1st half of the 18th century, 24 cm high, in the Museum of Asian Art, Berlin, identification number I 5930. Compare a related Nepalese gilt copper repoussé figure of a female donor, dated 1790-1810, 33 cm tall, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number IM.371-1914.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Zacke, Vienna, 16 October 2025, lot 27
Price: EUR 9,100 (for one)
Description: An important gilt copper alloy figure of a Royal donor, Nepal. 17th-18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, modeling, and gilding, which is well-preserved on this example. Note the size (17.7 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 March 2008, lot 413
Price: USD 10,000 or approx. EUR 13,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A brass ritual lamp with figures of a King and Queen, Nepal, 17th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject. Note the size (26.6 cm), function, and lack of gilding.
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