A BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRADHAKA

TIBET, 16TH CENTURY

Details

A BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRADHAKA
TIBET, 16TH CENTURY
The stout wrathful figure rearing backward atop a lotus base, his powerful arms crossed before his chest holding a vajra and ghanta, wearing beaded jewelry and a garland of severed heads, his fierce expression with bared fangs, a flaming moustache and eyebrows, and three bulging eyes surmounted by a skull diadem
6 1/3 in. (16 cm.) high

Provenance

The Sporer Collection, New Jersey, acquired by 4 March 1973

Literature

E. Olson, Tantric Buddhist Art, 1974, pp.26, 54, cat. no.13
Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.org), item no. 24056

Exhibited

Tantric Buddhist Art, China House Gallery, China Institute of America, New York, 14 March 1974 – 24 May 1974

Lot Essay

This figure would have formed the cover of a round vessel used in rituals pertaining to purification. Black sesame seeds are inserted through the mouth into the base filled with hot coals. The resulting smoke purifies the practitioner from defilements; for another example, see P. Pal, Art of the Himalayas, 1991, p.129, fig.69.

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