
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 ALLOY FIGURE OF VAJRAVARAHI
TIBET, 12TH/13TH CENTURY
西藏 十二/十三世紀 金剛亥母銅像
Vajravarahi is regarded as the most important female meditational deity (yidam) in Tibetan Buddhism. Dancing on a corpse representing the human ego, She brandishes a flaying knife (kartika) above her head while holding a skull cup (kapala) in her left hand. A plinth in the shape of a three-sided tetrahedron elevates the composition, recalling the sacred mandala abode from which she emerges in 12th and 13th century images. For instance, see a thangka depicting Vajravarahi's mandala and a bronze figure with similarly rendered eyes and nose (HAR 101337 & 85137).
Provenance:
Ashencaen and Leonov, London, 2000s