Page 97 - Bonhams Presencer Buddhist Art Collection Oct. 2 2018

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A GOLD AND SILVER INLAID IRON DANDA
TIBET, 15TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61719
42.5 cm (16 3/4 in.) long

HK$40,000 - 60,000

西藏 十五世紀 鐵質銀間鍍金法杖

Drawing metaphors from warfare, Vajrayana
Buddhism equips its wrathful manifestations
with weapons, such as the current mace which
Yama Dhamaraja and others use to pulverize into
annihilation karmic defilements that precipitate the
cycle of rebirth. Such weapons are thus incorporated
into rituals to achieve the same result for the
practitioner. This ceremonial mace is inlaid with silver
and gold spirals as was produced in the Early Ming
dynasty, evinced by a staff (khatvanga) in the British
Museum dated by inscription to the Yongle reign
(Zwalf, Buddhism: Art and Faith, London, 1985,
p.210, no.307). See a sword and knife with similar
vajra-handles in Rossi & Rossi, Images of Faith,
London, 2008, nos.14 & 18. Also compare with an
example sold at Christie’s, Amsterdam, 13 April 1999,
lot 5.

Provenance
Lama Yonsten, London, 2015

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