Shakyamuni Buddha, Earth-Touching
fromNPR 38,000
Vajrakilaya
Oxidized copper, three faces, painted
NPR 168,000
Quantity
KLM-VAJRAK-PF-10
Three faces, six arms and wings, the lower body tapering into the three-sided phurba blade. Yidam of the Nyingma tradition and one of the most complicated forms in the range. Faces painted, wings and flame detail picked out in gold.
What to expect from this order
Cast by hand in a named workshop
Made by Oku Bahal Shilpa in the Kathmandu valley, and paid for directly. About the workshop
Dispatched in two working days
Tracked the whole way. Anything over 10 kg travels by freight on a booked slot. Shipping and delivery
Nothing charged now
Pay the courier on delivery, or by wallet or bank transfer once we have confirmed the piece. How paying works
14 days to change your mind
Return it within 14 days of delivery, in the condition it arrived in. Refund policy
The detail
Measurements, materials and how this one was made — the facts a photograph cannot carry.
- Deity
- Vajrakilaya
- Finish
- Painted face
- Posture
- Standing
- Inlay
- None
- Material
- Copper
- Technique
- Lost-wax cast
- Origin district
- Lalitpur (Patan)
- Artisan
- Oku Bahal workshop, Patan
- Width
- 11.7 cm
- Length
- 9.7 cm
- Height
- 25.4 cm
- Weight
- 4.5 kg
Three faces means three sets of eyes, teeth and expressions on one head, each turned at sixty degrees to the next. The painter works it on a turntable over four days. It is the piece our workshop is proudest of at this price.
Cast by the lost-wax method the Newar workshops of Patan have used for roughly a thousand years. The artisan models the figure in wax, encases it in a clay and rice-husk mould, fires the mould so the wax runs out, and pours molten metal into the void that is left. The mould is broken to release the casting, so no two pieces from it can ever be identical. Chasing, filing and detailing the face are then done entirely by hand — the slowest part of the work, and the part that decides whether a statue is any good.
The face is hand-painted in gold and mineral pigment and is the most fragile part of the piece. Do not touch or wipe the face at all. Dust the body with a dry, soft cloth, always working away from the face. No water, no polish, no solvent. Keep out of direct sun, which fades the pigment, and away from damp.
In-stock pieces are dispatched within two working days and tracked all the way. Pieces over 10 kg travel by freight on a booked slot rather than by parcel carrier.
You can return it within 14 days of delivery, in the condition it arrived in. If you changed your mind you pay the return postage; if it was faulty or damaged in transit, we do. The refund policy sets out how, and the shipping policy covers costs and timings.
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