Page 126 - Bonhams Presencer Buddhist Art Collection Oct. 2 2018

196
THREE CARVED BONE APRON ORNAMENTS
TIBET, 13TH/14TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61721
14.5 cm (5 3/4 in.), the largest
HK$150,000 - 250,000

西藏 十三/十四世紀 法衣骨片三件

Superbly carved with charismatic figures and exquisite foliate scrolls in
high relief, these three leaves are exceptionally fine, early examples of
Tibetan bone apron ornaments.

Acala, Mahakala Chaturburja, and Vajrapani are depicted at their
centers. Corresponding to the iconography of thangkas with footprints
of 13th-century Drigung masters and Chakrasamvara Sahaja Heruka,
these bone leaves possibly derive from an apron that a master of
the Chakrasamvara Tantra would don in culminating rituals melting
his identity with the yidam (cf. HAR item nos.58301, 65205, 81410,
81411).

Carved with immense bodies and sparse regalia, the modeling of the
three wrathful deities corresponds to 13th- to 14th-century depictions,
such as a large Yuan stone stele of Vajrapani carved at Feilaifeng in
Hangzhou between 1281-1292, and a monumental 13th-century
bronze Vajrapani sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 29 November 2016,
lot 108. The lotus petals, wrathful faces, and decorative patterns of
the present works also show a proximity to the Pala sculptural style of
12th-century Northeastern India that early Tibetan art is known to draw
heavily from. Compare the lotus bases to that of a Pala-style Tibetan
sculpture illustrated in von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet,
Vol.2, Hong Kong, 2003, pp.1096-7, no.283D.

Provenance
Jon Barnett, London, 2002

124 | BONHAMS