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拍品專文
The ghanta, or bell, holds profound significance in tantric Buddhism as a sacred implement symbolizing the attainment of wisdom and the realization of emptiness, offering insights into the very nature of ultimate reality. Described often as “proclaiming the sound of the emptiness,” the ghanta empowers the meditative process during the ritual performing and other elaborated forms of esoteric practices, where its resonate sound is believed to facilitate the communication with deities and embody the teachings of dharma, or serve as an offering in itself.
The present ghanta is of exceptional quality, exemplifying the quintessential practices and aesthetic styles of 15th-century Tibet. It consists of two separately-casted parts with exquisite symbolic imagery – the cylindrical handle and the domed-shaped bell body – featuring fine-quality materials and techniques. The face of a bodhisattva on the handle is superbly casted with downcast eyes, round face and long bejeweled earlobes under an eight-foliate diadem. The meditative expression of the bodhisattva emanates a sense of tranquility and compassion. The crown is surmounted by a lotus petals pedestal, following the stylistic traditions of early Ming. A nine-pronged half-vajra shape stands atop, each outside prong coming from a makara head. Reliefs of syllables adorn eight directional lotus petals encircling the upper shoulder of the bell, accompanied by two rings of vajras, a border of upright vajra within raised beads around the base and a band of horizontal vajra at the shoulder. A decorative garland of monster heads, or kirtimukha mask, with beaded festoons hangs, complemented by eight Buddhist symbols between the tassels. For a comprehensive understanding of the iconography and symbolism of the ghanta’s motifs and decorations, refer to Robert Beer, The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs, plate 113, p.245.
The decorative diagram of the present ghanta aligns with examples of imperial patronage during the Yongle (1402-24) and Xuande (1425-35) reigns, and this work is believed to be modeled after the styles. For a related work marked to the reign of the Yongle period, see the gilt-bronze ritual bell in the collection of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco as an example. Another comparison can be found in a copper bell from the Palace Museum at Beijing with Xuande reign mark bestowed on Tibetan leaders, illustrated in Cultural Relics of Tibetan Buddhism Collected in the Qing Palace, Beijing, 1998, p.208-9.
Such a ghanta is often paired with the vajra (ritual thunderbolt), enclosing in a conjoined box. The set denotes a duality of masculine compassion and feminine wisdom, representing a perfect and inseparable union of skillful means and supreme knowledge. See for example a paired bell and vajra sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 5 October 2020, lot 103.
The present ghanta is of exceptional quality, exemplifying the quintessential practices and aesthetic styles of 15th-century Tibet. It consists of two separately-casted parts with exquisite symbolic imagery – the cylindrical handle and the domed-shaped bell body – featuring fine-quality materials and techniques. The face of a bodhisattva on the handle is superbly casted with downcast eyes, round face and long bejeweled earlobes under an eight-foliate diadem. The meditative expression of the bodhisattva emanates a sense of tranquility and compassion. The crown is surmounted by a lotus petals pedestal, following the stylistic traditions of early Ming. A nine-pronged half-vajra shape stands atop, each outside prong coming from a makara head. Reliefs of syllables adorn eight directional lotus petals encircling the upper shoulder of the bell, accompanied by two rings of vajras, a border of upright vajra within raised beads around the base and a band of horizontal vajra at the shoulder. A decorative garland of monster heads, or kirtimukha mask, with beaded festoons hangs, complemented by eight Buddhist symbols between the tassels. For a comprehensive understanding of the iconography and symbolism of the ghanta’s motifs and decorations, refer to Robert Beer, The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs, plate 113, p.245.
The decorative diagram of the present ghanta aligns with examples of imperial patronage during the Yongle (1402-24) and Xuande (1425-35) reigns, and this work is believed to be modeled after the styles. For a related work marked to the reign of the Yongle period, see the gilt-bronze ritual bell in the collection of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco as an example. Another comparison can be found in a copper bell from the Palace Museum at Beijing with Xuande reign mark bestowed on Tibetan leaders, illustrated in Cultural Relics of Tibetan Buddhism Collected in the Qing Palace, Beijing, 1998, p.208-9.
Such a ghanta is often paired with the vajra (ritual thunderbolt), enclosing in a conjoined box. The set denotes a duality of masculine compassion and feminine wisdom, representing a perfect and inseparable union of skillful means and supreme knowledge. See for example a paired bell and vajra sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 5 October 2020, lot 103.