Buddha, förgylld brons. Zanabazar skolan, Mongoliet, 1700-tal.

The Rashammar collection, thence by descent.

Gösta Rashammar was a curious and passionate collector with a keen eye for aesthetics and perfection. Gösta and his wife Märta made sure to visit all the fine art viewings in Stockholm and gradually built up a fantastic collection.
It all began in his early years when Gösta Rashammar, born in 1919 in Norrköping, discovered the joy of interpreting and describing his surroundings with the help of a camera, brushes, and easel. After completing his studies, he moved to Stockholm and started his career at one of Sweden's leading department store chains. Gösta was responsible for decoration and signage, and it was when he was commissioned by the American company Max Factor to develop an Asian theme interior decoration that his interest in Asia and primarily China developed. Anyone who had the pleasure of visiting the couple's beautiful home in the city center of Stockholm could enjoy Göstas feeling for interior design, the prized piece of the collection was the Zanabazar buddha.

To see other lots sold from the Rashammar collection, see Stockholms Auktionsverk, 12 June 2016.

To compare with other buddhas of this type sold, see: Christie's, New York, 19 March 2013, lot 219.

See also Christies, 15 March 2016 | Live auction 12168. Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Works of Art, lot 251 for one of the same size.

See also; Sothebys, New York, 17 September 2013, lot 63

This exceptionally beautiful gilt bronze figure of Buddha Amitabha embodies stylistic sophistication and technical finesse, hallmarks of the Zanabazar sculptural school. The workshop of the great Mongolian political and religious leader and master artist, Jebstundamba Khutukhtu Zanabazar (1635-1723), is renowned for incorporating Pala, Newari and Yongle stylistic elements into a uniquely Mongolian artistic expression. Cast as a single form with superbly modeled details and thick, lustrous gilding, Zanabazar school bonzes are hailed as sculptural masterpieces of the period. The noted scholar and conservator Giles Beguin states; “The molded perfection of his pieces, the refinement and variety of the jewelry, and the subtlety of his drapery constitute the height of Lamaistic art” (A. & F. Rossi, Treasures from Mongolia: Buddhist Sculpture from the School of Zanabazar, London, 2005).