
Dora Tan
Head of Sale, Specialist
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Sold for HK$352,500 inc. premium
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Head of Sale, Specialist

International Director
西藏 十五世紀末/十六世紀 大威德金剛銅像
This powerful bronze depicts the ferocious deity Vajrabhairava, whose name in Sanskrit means "indestructibly frightening". Personifying the victory of wisdom over death, he is a wrathful manifestation of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of supreme wisdom.
With nine heads and thirty-four hands, his complex iconography is replete with symbolism. The ritual implements that would have been held in each of his radiating arms symbolize aspects of knowledge that are used to overcome spiritual obstacles. The large garland of freshly severed heads stands for the conquest of ego, while the act of stepping over diminutive gods and animals represents the subjugation of evil and suffering.
The base's lotus petals demonstrate a stylistic borrowing by Tibetans of imperial bronzes of the early Ming from the first half of the 15th century. The bronze's non-gilded surface, as well as its necklaces and beaded swags, are also in keeping with artworks produced in the province of Tsang, at important cultural centers like Gyantse and Shigatse. Compared with later Qing examples, representations of Vajrabhairava from the 15th and 16th centuries are often cast with a less wrathful facial expression and a more horizontal arrangement of the arms. See a closely related Tibetan figure of Vajrabhairava at the Rubin Museum of Art (HAR 65095).
Provenance
Ex-Private Collection, Scotland
Private Collection, UK