Page 108 - Bonhams Presencer Buddhist Art Collection Oct. 2 2018

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A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF LOKESHVARA GUHYASAMAJA [The Guhyasamaja Tantra is...] referred to in Tibet as the “king of
TIBET, 15TH CENTURY tantras” (rgyud kyi rgyal po), it is among the most important of
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61639 what later come to be called Anuttarayogatantras, or highest yoga
16.5 cm (6 1/2 in.) high tantras. It is also classified as a “father tantra” (pirtantra). The text
was likely composed sometime between about 750 and 850 CE...
HK$500,000 - 800,000 The Guhyasamja is one of the earliest tantras to present overtly
antinomian practices, notably of a sexual nature, as well as the
practices of ingesting impure substances. The text begins with a
西藏 十五世纪 銅鎏金密集金剛坐像 surprising rendition of the opening line of a Buddhist sutra... when it
states, “Thus have I heard. At one time the Bhagavan was residing
With his primary hands, the three-faced yidam unfurls a lotus budding in the vaginas of the women who are the vajra essence of the body,
from the tantric bell (ghanta) in his lap. The lotus is a profound speech, and mind of all the tathagatas.” Such passages led to the
Buddhist symbol of every being’s capacity to achieve Buddhahood. development of sophisticated hermeneutical systems for interpreting
The bell is an ubiquitous object in Vajrayana Buddhist rituals, symbolic the tantras to discover their hidden meaning.” (Buswell & Lopez,
of wisdom and the womb. Thus, the yidam conveys a rare and clear “Guhyasamajatantra”, in The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, New
metaphor for the efficacy of tantric practice. Jersey, 2014.)

The gilded sculpture represents Guhyasamaja, revealing a secret A closely related example depicting another form of Guhyasamaja was
essence of Buddha Amitabha. A thangka in the Qing Palace Collection sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 18 December 1981, lot 263. It shows
provides a clear reference for the iconography (HAR item no.34750). near identical treatments of the lotus base, raiment, and regalia.
The hilt of the yidam’s sword remains in his top right hand, while a Each was likely part of a sculptural mandala depicting the Thirty-
stem that would have attached a chakra remains in his top left. He Two-Deity Guhyasamaja Mandala. (See Rhie & Thurman, Wisdom
is known as Lokeshvara Guhyasamaja, adopting Avalokiteshvara & Compassion, New York, 1996, p.338, no.134, for an example
iconography as the latter belongs to Buddha Amitabha’s lotus family. of a Bhaishajyaguru sculptural mandala set.) See a corresponding
The special Lokeshvara iconography of opening the lotus is drawn representation of Guhyasamaja Lokeshvara in the central northern
from such sculptures of the Bodhisattva as a Pala-period bronze sold quadrant of a painted mandala sold at Bonhams, New York, 17
at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 3 October 2017, lot 1. March 2014, lot 18. This sculpture’s rare depiction of lotus petals on
top of the base anticipates it being configured within a mandala as
predominately viewed from a raised angle.

Provenance
Peter Fussel, London

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