Large White Tara (Sitatārā) – Gilt and Polychrome Bronze, Tibet / Qianlong Period (18th Century)
This monumental White Tara (Sitatārā), cast in bronze under the Qianlong period (1736–1795), exemplifies the refined Sino-Tibetan fusion of metalwork and polychromy.
The surface combines original cloisonné enamel with hand-applied mineral pigments, visible across the shoulders, arms, and base. Under UV illumination, the turquoise, red, and black scroll motifs fluoresce with distinct intensity differences, confirming the coexistence of enamel (vitreous) and pigment (organic/mineral). Microscopic observation further shows aged oxidation and partial loss of the original gilding layer beneath, consistent with 18th-century production and long-term devotional use.
TAX (Taxation Summary)
Examined with museum-grade analytical methods including UV and microscopic inspection.
Material: fire-gilded bronze with original polychromy and semi-precious inlays (turquoise, coral).
Technique: 24 kt gold leaf applied by traditional mercury amalgam process.
Region & Period: Tibet / Qianlong Period (18th Century).
Height: 85 cm.
Condition: original gilding and pigments, no modern repairs.
Retail Valuation (1stbuddha): €140,000.
Large White Tara (Sitatārā) – Gilt and Polychrome Bronze, Tibet / Qianlong Period (18th Century)
Description
This monumental White Tara (Sitatārā) stands among the most refined devotional bronzes of the eighteenth century, uniting imperial Chinese craftsmanship with Tibetan iconographic devotion.
The figure is cast in high-tin bronze and decorated with a complex surface of cloisonné enamel and hand-applied mineral pigments. Under UV light, deep turquoise and red enamel fields enclosed by copper cloisons reveal a subtle alternation between glass and paint. Traces of ancient gilding remain only in protected recesses—enough to remind us that this once shone with the brilliance of a fully gilded goddess.
Tara’s serene face—with its full cheeks and almond-shaped eyes—follows the imperial Qianlong idiom, distinct from the sharper Newar prototypes of earlier centuries. The turquoise and coral inlays are original, seated in oxidised bezels without modern repair. Inside, compacted sand-casting residues and crystalline salt deposits testify to centuries of sealed ritual presence.
In Tibetan Buddhism, White Tara embodies longevity and compassionate awareness. Her seven eyes—on face, palms, and soles—represent omniscience, vigilance, and the all-seeing nature of enlightened wisdom. The union of large scale, mixed enamel-paint surface, and Qianlong stylistic precision place this piece firmly among the rare imperial Sino-Tibetan bronzes created for monastic and court devotion.
The Treasure Within — or Without?
Around a hundred years ago, the base of White Tara was forced open. The incision, still sharp and unsoftened, reveals a moment when someone believed that true wealth lay hidden inside her. Perhaps it was an act of curiosity, perhaps of greed, or perhaps simple misunderstanding of sacred practice.
In Tibetan tradition, such figures were sealed with relics, mantra scrolls, and grains — the spiritual heart of the deity itself. To open that cavity was to break her silence, to expose what was never meant to be seen. In doing so, the seeker uncovered nothing of material worth — and yet, paradoxically, preserved the image.
What time has revealed is that the real treasure was never inside. The goddess herself — her bronze body, her fragile enamel skin, her scarred base — is the true relic. The act that once violated her sanctity has, through age and rarity, transformed her into a masterpiece of immense historical and spiritual value. Her open base is now a reminder that the search for hidden wealth often ends by revealing beauty itself.
The Seven Eyes of White Tara
Among all manifestations of compassion in Tibetan Buddhism, White Tara stands apart. She is not a goddess of distant divinity, but of vigilance — the embodiment of a compassion that never sleeps. Her seven eyes, placed upon her face, palms, and soles, look simultaneously in all directions: eyes that see suffering, eyes that heal, eyes that guide the living beyond fear.
In ritual belief, those eyes do not merely watch — they act. They pierce ignorance, deflect disease, and extend life itself. The practitioner who contemplates her gaze is said to inherit clarity, calm, and the strength to endure the weight of existence. Each eye represents an element of awakened awareness: the mind that sees truth, the hand that offers help, the step that leads forward.
In this great bronze image, that vision survives not only in her expression but in her endurance. Torn open, sealed again, and scarred by time, she now sees further than ever. What once was a sacred container for relics has become relic itself — a living symbol of resilience, grace, and the mystery of preservation. White Tara remains what she was meant to be: the all-seeing guardian of life, her seven eyes unblinking across the centuries.
Context and Comparison
A closely related example of White Tara from eighteenth-century Mongolia can be seen in the study published by Himalayan Buddhist Art. That figure, entirely fire-gilded and about thirty centimetres high, reflects the same Qianlong-period aesthetic — the softly rounded face, elongated eyes, and calm downward gaze characteristic of imperial production.
Yet the White Tara preserved by 1stBuddha surpasses it in scale and complexity. At eighty-five centimetres, her form combines gilding remains, cloisonné enamel, and painted mineral pigments — a rare union of metalwork and colour unique to high-level Sino-Tibetan ateliers. Where the Mongolian example represents devotional refinement, this piece represents devotion monumentalised: the same serenity expanded to temple size, still bearing the scars and beauty of survival.
Taken together, these images trace the breadth of Qianlong-era Buddhist art — from intimate altar bronzes to grand imperial commissions. The 1stBuddha White Tara thus stands not as an isolated relic, but as the monumental counterpart of a tradition that once linked Beijing, Lhasa, and Urga in a single field of sacred creation.
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Large White Tara (Sitatārā) – Gilt and Polychrome Bronze, Tibet / Qianlong Period (18th Century)
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