Shakyamuni Buddha, Fire-Gilt
fromNPR 385,000
Yellow Dzambhala
Fire-gilt copper, mongoose and jewel
NPR 178,000
Quantity
KLM-DZAMBH-GT-06
Seated with the right foot down on a small lotus and a vase beneath it, a citron in the right hand and a mongoose gripped in the left, jewels spilling from its mouth. The wealth deity of the Buddhist pantheon, gilt in 24k gold with turquoise at the crown.
What to expect from this order
Cast by hand in a named workshop
Made by Shakya Atelier 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
- Dzambhala
- Finish
- Fire-gilt 24k gold
- Posture
- Seated, royal ease
- Inlay
- Turquoise
- Material
- Gilt copper
- Technique
- Fire-gilding
- Origin district
- Lalitpur (Patan)
- Artisan
- Shakya family workshop, Patan
- 6 inch
- 10 × 7.3 × 15.2 cm, 1.4 kg
- 9 inch
- 15.1 × 11 × 22.9 cm, 3.4 kg
The mongoose is the test of a Dzambhala. It has to be an animal rather than a shape — the workshop chases the fur after gilding with a fine punch, and the jewels coming out of its mouth are set individually rather than moulded as a lump.
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.
Fire-gilding is a thin skin of pure gold over copper and it abrades easily. Dust only with a clean, dry cotton cloth, with no pressure. Never use polish, solvent, water or a gritty microfibre cloth. Keep out of direct sunlight and away from steady incense smoke, which dulls the surface over the years. Handle with cotton gloves or by the base — skin oils leave marks that set.
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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