The Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty was an important milestone in the development ofthe palace’s Tibetan Buddhist arts and it signified the rich interaction between Chinese and Tibetan art. In the 45th year (1780) of the Qianlong Emperor’s reign, the Sixth Panchen Lama travelled to Beijing for the Emperor’s birthday and he brought with him a Buddhiststatue made from purple li-ma (a bronze-brass compound of as many as eight metals, themost valuablecontaining gold) both for the emperor’s veneration and also to be copied by the Zaobanchu in the palace. Later the original formula for this ware wasimproved and special lima statues for exclusiveuse in thepalace were made and these became part of the treasury of Tibetan Buddhist statuary in the palace collection. This paper provides a detailed introduction to the background history of this using the archives of the Zaobanchu (Imperial Workshops) under the Neiwufu of the Qing royal palace and describes the representative works in the collections of the Palace Museum and the Imperial Summer Retreat at Chengde.
