- Nepal 19th century, a patinated, partially fire-gilded and painted bronze featuring a Naga Kanya as a winged Buddhist deity with a female upper body which rests on a coiled serpent tail, with both hands she holds a conche shell (sanskrt.shankha), a tall five-headed cobra forms a protective hood behind her head,originally a Hindu figure later adopted by the Buddhist to represent the guardians of treasures, especially concealed teachings, nagas i.e. snakes are symbols of rebirth, transformation and renewal, and represent the material, spiritual and spiritual wealth, Nagarjuna, of the second century, is said to have received the important prajnaparamita sutra text from the underworld nagas or snake deities, a special Naga princess is mentioned in the XIIth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, where she comes to bodhicitta at the tender age of eight, offering Buddha a jewel said to be worth thousands of worlds before a large assembly of boddhisatvas, when the Buddha accepts her jewel immediately, she tells everybody to watch her become a buddha even more rapidly despite being just a girl, the jewel she is willing to sacrify is in truth her very own life, worth indeed thousands of worlds, and the gift of which is the ultimate price, H.c.22,5cm, weight approx. 2080g Provenance from an important German private collection