Page 16 - Bonhams Image of Devotion Hong Kong December 2, 2021

1005
A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF A WRATHFUL DEITY
NORTHEASTERN INDIA, PALA PERIOD, 11TH/12TH CENTURY
With remains of cold gold pigment in the face.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.4516
8.8 cm (3 1/2 in.) high

HKD600,000 - 800,000

印度東北部 帕拉時期 十一/十二世紀 忿怒相神祇銅像
This charismatic miniature commands a mighty presence. Sword aloft, the robust,
pot-bellied deity stands triumphant over two prone figures. His matted locks
form a leonine mane, framing his furrowed, mustachioed face. His expression
has an unyielding character, like that of the Buddhist protector Achala (skt. “The
Immovable”), who also wields a sword. Yet, unlike Achala, in his left hand this
figure brandishes a severed human head. He resembles numerous wrathful deities
seen in illustrated Pala manuscripts, such as the attendant to Manjushri in the
Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita manuscript in the Asia Society Museum, New York
(1987.1). He may also represent one of the myriad forms of Bhairava, the wrathful
manifestation of Shiva.

While its exact identification and religious affiliation remain unanswered, this figure
would have been certainly part of a large, remarkable Pala shrine. His fanned array
of twisted locks compare with a figure of Hayagriva from Kurkihar likely from a
similar context, as well as two 11th-/12th-century Pala bronzes of Nairatmya held
in the Potala Palace, and a figure of Savari in the Musée Guimet (see Ray, Eastern
Indian Bronzes, 1986, no.178a; von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol.I,
2001, pp.284&288, nos.93A&95A; von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981,
p.284, no.70A, respectively). The distinctive hairstyle is also common to the Hindu
solar deity Brhaspati in Pala sculpture (see Lefèvre, Chefs-d’œuvre du delta du
Gange, 2007, pp.278-9, no.109).

Provenance
The Nyingjei Lam Collection

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