Page 34 - Bonhams Himalayan, Indian Art march 2015

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A gilt copper alloy deity from a zVajrabhairava shrine

Tibeto-Chinese, Yongle period, early 15th century

In a prone position with his torso raised and looking to the left, he Vajrabhairava’s feet (see Henss, The Cultural Monuments of Tibet,

holds a mirror, club, and water pot, he is richly adorned with multiple Vol. 1, Munich, 2014, p. 130, fig. 201). According to the format of the

necklaces and other beaded jewelry, his broad rounded face with a Yongle textile our figure would be positioned second from the right.

fierce expression and thickly knitted brow. Within the Gelugpa tradition, which took hold at the Yongle court in

10 7/8 in. (27.5 cm) high; 13 3/4 in. (35.2cm) wide 1407 after the arrival of Shakya Yeshe, the eight Hindu gods from

$250,000 - 350,000 left to right be Shiva, Vishnu, Indra, Brahma, Kartikeya, Chandra,

Surya, and Ganesha. Therefore the present sculpture can be securely

This exceptional early 15th century sculpture belongs to a set of eight identified as the sun god Surya.

depicting Hindu deities that would have occupied the front edge of a

throne beneath a monumental Yongle Vajrabhairava sculpture. While these figures can appear on a level below the primary deity

in 14th-/15th-century Nepalese sculpture, this exact convention of

Although six of the eight have been previously described as placing them on the front edge of the throne appears to be unique

naga kings, Vajrapani, and attendants, a large embroidered silk to the Yongle period. It is also exhibited in a Yongle six-character-

thangka of Vajrabhairava in the Jokhang demonstrates the actual mark-and-period bronze of Vajrabhairava, formerly of the Speelman

convention, showing the eight Hindu deities in supplication before Collection, illustrated in von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong

the more common assembly of crushed figures and animals under Kong, 1981, p.518, fig.145C and Sotheby’s, Hong Kong, 7 October

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