Page 60 - Bonhams Presencer Buddhist Art Collection Oct. 2 2018

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THREE METAL NINE-PRONGED VAJRAS This group demonstrates Tibetan vajras’ great variation of shapes and
TIBET, CIRCA 16TH CENTURY metals, presumably determined for various types of ritual activity, be
One made of copper alloy, one of iron, the other brass. they peaceful, wrathful, increasing, or attracting. Their central bulbous
Himalayan Art Resources item nos.61680, 61681 & 61693 grips compare with one held by a sculpture of Vajrapani published in
17 cm (6 3/4 in.), the longest Linrothe & Watt, Demonic Divine, New York, 2004, pp.220-1, no.5,
and others sold at Christie’s, New York, 31 March 2005, lot 141 & 19
HK$30,000 - 50,000 September 2011, lot 134.

Provenance
西藏 約十六世纪 九股金剛杵三支 London Market, 1970s-80s

According to Beer, nine-pronged vajras are associated with the
Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, which revers Padmasambhava
as its root guru (Beer, The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and
Motifs, Boston, 1999, p.235). A vajra’s central axis is considered
one prong. An ancient weapon, its once spiked prongs have been
tamed by Buddhism to curve inwards upon its central axis, forming a
continuous loop of transmuting power. The outer eight prongs in these
examples are said to be symbolic of the Noble Eightfold Path.

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