Page 48 - Christies Indian and Himalayan Art IRVING collection Sept 24 2020 NYC

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN

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A GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA VAJRASANA
TIBET, 14TH-15TH CENTURY
8æ in. (22.2 cm.) high
$50,000-70,000

PROVENANCE:
Elizabeth May Hicks Barrett (1874-1957), Norfolk, Virginia; thence by descent.

LITERATURE:
Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 24611.

The present figure of Buddha Vajrasana is an exceptional example of Central revealed by the diaphanous sanghati. The articulation of the lower garment
Tibetan images of the fifteenth century, generally considered the high point of beneath the sanghati at the waist, with a slightly undulating silhouette, is also
Tibetan bronze image casting. With his right hand, the Buddha touches the characteristic of Nepalese sculpture. While the aquiline nose is commonly
ground in the gesture of bhumisparshamudra, asking the earth to bear witness found in Nepalese sculpture, the eyes and mouth are more characteristic of
to the truth of his teachings. His elongated earlobes, weighed down by the images from Central Tibet, as is the elongated ushnisha.
heavy earrings of his former princely life, represent his rejection of worldly The double-lotus base is noteworthy for its somewhat vertical profile, with
goods. His close-fitting sanghati, with delicately incised hems, is draped over very little tapering at the waist. Many Tibetan gilt-bronze images that date
his left shoulder, leaving the right shoulder bare. Often confused with the from this time have a noticeably narrow-waisted profile, with the notable
tathagata Akshobhya, the present representation of Shakyamuni with a vajra exception of bronzes associated with the monastery of Densatil; see, for
resting before him refers to the moment when the historical buddha attained example, the 14th-century Tibetan gilt-bronze figure of Buddha Shakyamuni
enlightenment. Bodhgaya, the site where Shakyamuni attained enlightenment, sold at Sotheby's New York, 22 March 2018, lot 1036. The present figure
was originally referred to as Vajrasana, and Himalayan sculptors often used differs slightly from the Densatil examples in that the length of the lotus petals
the vajra as a visual symbol for this location. is more elongated than those found on the bases of Densatil-style figures,
The present work displays aspects of the influence of the Nepalese style and of course lacks the rectangular plinth below the lotus base. A closer
of sculpture on the bronze image making of Central Tibet, while also comparable, both in relation to the lotus base and to the figure holistically, is
demonstrating the development of signature ideas within Tibet. The Nepalese a gilt-bronze figure of Buddha Vajrasana, dated to the 14th century, illustrated
influence can be found in the lithe, yet muscular physiognomy of the Buddha’s by U. Von Schroeder in Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, vol. II, Hong Kong, 2001,
body, with broad shoulders, thick tapering arms, and a defined chest, all p. 1063, fig. 271D, and illustrated below.

A gilt-bronze figure of Buddha Vajrasana; Tibet, 14th
century; illustration from U. Von Schroeder in Buddhist
Sculptures in Tibet, vol. II, Hong Kong, 2001, p. 1063, fig.
271D.

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