A MAGNIFICENT AND RARE GILT-GOPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF MARICHIKangxi/YongzhengSeated on a lotus base invajrasana with her eight arms radiating around her, wearing a garment with stippled hem and beaded edge, girdle, arm ornaments, necklace, lotus bud earrings, and elaborate tiara, her principle head with a serene expression flanked by her wrathful right hand face and boar's face on the left, her hair drawn into a double chignon and surmounted by a buddha-head finial.33cm (13in) highProvenance: 清康熙/雍正 鎏金銅光明佛母坐像Provenance:A private collection, CanadaChristie's, New York, 20 September 2000, lot 111 New York, 18 September 2013, lot 18A distinguished Asian private collection來源：加拿大私人收藏紐約佳士得，2000年9月20日，拍品111紐約邦翰斯，2013年9月18日，拍品18亞洲顯赫私人收藏Marichi, whose name means 'ray of light', is the goddess of the dawn, who drives away the night and the darkness of ignorance and fear. In Chinese Buddhism, this deity assumes the female form and is believed to be the mother of the Northern Star referred to as the 'Dipper Mother' (Dǒumǔ Yuánjūn), a constellation in Sagittarius. For a further reading Louis Frédéric, Buddhism: Flammarion Iconographic Guides, Paris, 1995, pp.224-225.For a gilt bronze figure of Marichi, dated to the Kangxi period, see an example sold at Christie's Paris, 23 June 2020, lot 43. It is larger in size and holding attributes, thought to be created in one of the Imperial ateliers during the Kangxi reign as the Emperor was an ardent follower of Tibetan Buddhism and many important bronzes weremissioned to make during his reign. For another bronze most likely cast in a monastery in Beijing during the reign of the Qianlong emperor, see Pal & Tseng, Lamaist Art, Boston, 1969, no. 47. Additionally, an example of Ushnishavijaya of similar size and style was sold at Koller, Zurich, 7-8 May 2013, lot 130 and Christie's, South Kensington, 15 May 2008, lot 379. Lastly, see a monumental version (91.4cm high) exhibiting an almost identical treatment of the face, jewelry, sash, and the robe in the Brooklyn Museum of Art, .佛教中的'光明佛母'(Marichi)，其名稱意為'光芒'，亦為黎明女神。她的形態在漢傳佛教中極為罕見，被視爲是北極星的母親，尊稱'鬥母元君'，位於射手座。相關討論參見Louis Frédéric編《Buddhism: Flammarion Iconographic Guides》，巴黎，1995年，頁224-225。康熙皇帝是藏傳佛教的虔誠信徒，很多重要的銅鎏金造像都是他在位時期主張制作的，參考巴黎佳士得售一例被認爲是康熙朝'中正殿念經處'產物的鎏金銅光明佛母坐像，形制裝飾與本尊頗似，惟較大之，佛母手中的法器有數件得以保留，售於2020年6月23日，拍品43；比較另一尊鎏金光明佛母造像，很有可能在乾隆朝間造&#...