Page 66 - Bonhams Image of Devotion Hong Kong December 2, 2021

1025
A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF THE PRECIOUS ELEPHANT
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.4503
21.5 cm (8 1/2 in.) high

HKD600,000 - 800,000

清 十八世紀 銅鎏金象寶

The modeling of this golden elephant conveys its limbs with muscular contours,
and its ears and snout with delightful wrinkles and folds. The elephant’s head
is turned slightly to one side to reveal the wish-fulfilling gem he proffers with his
trunk. His back supports an emblem of the Three Jewels of Buddhism (triratna)
securing a jeweled caparison of semi-precious stones and bell pendants dangling
over his legs and head, adding movement to his pleasing rounded form.

Elephants are symbols of majesty, power, endurance, self-control, and gentleness
in Buddhism. This sculpture of a bejeweled elephant more specifically represents
the Precious Elephant, which is one of the Seven Treasures of the chakravartin, or
‘universal monarch’. The mythical concept of the Buddhist chakravartin originated
in India, where rulers rode elephants in both battle and peaceful processions.
Many Buddhist rulers strove to personify a chakravartin, including Qing emperors,
who produced several gilt-bronze sets of the Seven Treasures arising from lotuses,
two of which can be seen in Treasures of Imperial Court [Gongting zhenbao],
2004, pp.212-3, pl.189; Cultural Relics of Tibetan Buddhism Collected in the
Qing Palace [Qinggong Zangchuan fojiao wenwu], 1998, p.182, pl.138. Another
contemporaneous example of the Precious Elephant is in the Mengdiexuan
Collection, published in Jewels of Transcendence, 2018, p.295, pl.198. By
contrast, the bell and triangular leaf pendants on the present sculpture’s regalia
suggest it was more likely produced in Tibet during the Qing period, likely at a
monastic seat of power.

Provenance
Ulrich von Schroeder, 1970s
Private Swiss Collection

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