WOODEN TEMPLE STRUT (TUNALA).

NEPAL.

KATHMANDU VALLEY.

EARLY MALLA PERIOD.

13TH - 14TH CENTURY.

H. 95 CMS, 37 ˝ INS.

W. 16.5 CMS, 6 ˝ INS.

A sensuous, exquisitely carved wooden temple strut (tunala) depicting a celestial female (devata)with long flowing hair and wearing extensive jewellery, dancing beneath a flowering tree on top of a hermit sage who sits clutching his beard.

The Newar ethnic group of Nepal was responsible for many of the greatest masterpieces of Buddhist and Hindu art. The Malla Period (1200–1768), and in particular the Early Malla period of the 13th to 15th centuries, is regarded as the Newari ‘Golden Age’. During the Early Malla period a thriving trade with Tibet led to the establishment of a wealthy merchant class which became a major source of patronage for religious establishments. The wooden temples of the Kathmandu valley have roofs supported by cantilevered struts, typically carved with figures of beautiful celestial maidens standing on the backs of male dwarf figures.

Female figures of this type are reminiscent of yakshis (nature spirits), the posture of this example recalling the Salabhanjika (‘tree fertilising’) pose found in ancient Indian sculpture. The devata grasps a branch, forcing nature to wake from dormancy and causing the tree to bloom. The Metropolitan Museum, New York city, has a closely related example - see the following link: http://tinyurl.com/ycg7jmj

For another example of similar date in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, see page 87 in Orientations, Sept. 2000.