
Jing Wen
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Cataloguer

Global Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art

International Director

International Specialist

Head of Sale, Specialist
A COPPER INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF ACHALA
TIBET, 12TH/13TH CENTURY
西藏 十二/十三世紀 銅錯紅銅不動明王像
Brandishing a sword above his head while extending his left index finger in a threatening gesture (tarjani mudra), Achala serves as the meditational deity (yidam) who protects the practitioner's mind from negative forces while cutting through the veil of ignorance. He tramples the elephant-headed deity Ganesha underfoot, who is represented here as the Creator of Obstacles. The Kadam, founded by Atisha (982-1054), popularized this standing form, which was succeeded by a kneeling form promulgated by the Sakya, come the 14th century.
Despite its diminutive scale, this bronze retains a lustrous, chocolate-brown patina richly embellished with inset turquoise and inlaid copper. See a larger Tibetan image of Chandra Vajrapani with similarly tall hair and stocky yet well-balanced proportions, published in von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981, p. 468, no. 128A. Also compare an earlier Pala period bronze of Vajrapani with a similar dwarfish physique and spiral-patterned tiger skin, sold at Bonhams, New York, 13 March 2017, lot 3064.
Provenance:
Spink & Son Ltd., London, 1990s