Page 218 - Christie's IMPORTANT CHINESE Ceramics and Works of Art may 28 2021 hk

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A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF BEGTSE CHEN

QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
The figure is well cast, standing defiantly with one foot on the
abdomen of a horse and the other on a man, all above the lotus
pedestal. He is wearing armour, with right hand wielding a sword
with scorpion handle, and left holding a heart up to his gaping
mouth. His ferocious expression enhanced by flame-like hair and
skull tiara.
12Ω in. (32 cm.) high overall
HK$1,500,000-2,500,000 US$200,000-320,000

Begtse Chen is one of the eight Dharmapala, associated with the
Nyingma and Geluk orders. He is named for the great copper coat of
mail he wears, which is prominently featured in this dynamic sculpture.
Compare to an almost identical example formerly in the Prince
Ukhtomsky Collection, and now in the Hermitage Museum Collection,
illustrated in Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, New
York, 2000, p.307, no. 120. Compare also with a Qianlong-marked gilt-
bronze figure of Begtse Chen in the Beijing Palace Museum Collection,
illustrated in Classics of the Forbidden City: Tibetan Buddhist Sculpture,
Beijing, 2009, no.171, and an 18th-century gilt-bronze figure of Hayagriva
with a similar style, accompanied by an yellow label that can be
translated as “…Collected in the 26th day of Eighth Month of the Fifty-
eighth Year of Qianlong reign…”, illustrated in the same volume, no. 177.
(fig. 1)

清乾隆 鎏金銅貝格遮造像
像束火焰髮髮髻，戴五骷髏冠，三目圓睜，呲露獠牙。右手上舉火焰劍，
左手持人心舉向口中，呈欲食狀。身著嚴密盔甲，腳蹬戰靴，繫鮮人首髮，
左展立姿，雙足分踏於象征魔障之馬與人上，底呈蓮座，後飾火焰背光。
貝格遮，又名兄妹護法，大紅勇保護法等。最初此尊為寧瑪派和格魯派的
護法神。佛教中認為，常修持此像，可以佑護修行者不為外敵所傷。俄羅
斯冬宮博物館原鄔多穆斯契王子舊藏有一尊同本拍品幾乎一致例，著錄於
《Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet》，紐約，2000 年，頁
307，圖版 120。北京故宮博物院藏一例乾隆時期清宮內務府造辦處所製
貝格遮造像，著於《故宮經典 — 藏傳佛教造像》，北京，2009 年，圖版
171 號。同書另收錄一尊清宮舊藏十八世紀一面二臂馬頭金剛造像，風格
同本拍品相仿，隨清宮所系黃紙簽書「…乾隆五十八年八月二十六日收，
熱河（殘）」，見圖版 177 號（圖一）。

fig. 1 Collection of the Beijing Palace Museum
圖一 北京故宮博物院藏品
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