Jetsun Milarepa Statue – Buddhist Figure with Filigree

Milarepa, renowned yogi, poet, and one of the most influential masters of the Kagyu lineage. The robe and base are worked in filigree and set with colored stones.

Jetsun Milarepa lived in the early 12th century. As a student of Marpa Lotsawa, he played a formative role in the early development of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Through his ascetic life, his songs of realization, and his decades of wandering, he became one of the most influential figures in the Tibetan meditation and transmission tradition.

The statue depicts Milarepa in a relaxed, semi-open seated posture on a gazelle skin. His right hand is raised behind the ear with outstretched fingers. In his left hand he holds a begging bowl. The robe crosses at the front and opens loosely. It covers the right shoulder and upper arm, the left arm, and the legs.

The gazelle skin on which Milarepa sits appears to lie on the base. At the front, a slightly raised gazelle head is integrated into the design. The forehead aligns with the upper edge of the base, while the horns extend above it. The four legs of the skin are incorporated into the surrounding filigree, allowing figural and ornamental elements to merge.

The robe and base are worked in filigree. Fine spiral shapes, filled with smaller arched elements, and assembled into a pattern. Colored stones form floral motifs within the filigree and highlight selected areas.

The statue follows the image traditions of Vajrayana art in the Kathmandu Valley, in which ritual identity, gesture, and ornament are brought together into a balanced iconographic unity.

Milarepa

Statue made of copper, traditional lost wax cast, decorated with filigree, silver- and gold-plated, set with colored stones. The figure is patinated. The face is set in gold. Handcrafted in Nepal.

• Height: 19.5 cm
• Width: 16.7 cm
• Depth: 10.5 cm
• Weight: 2,147 g

NOTE
The face painting is a cold gold application and water-soluble. Dust can be gently removed with a soft brush.