Page 179 - Bonhams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art March 2019

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A GILT COPPER ALLOY VAJRA A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF NAMASANGITI
TIBET, CIRCA 16TH CENTURY NEPAL, 16TH/17TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61904 Himalayan Art Resources item no.61938
5 1/4 in. (13.5 cm) long 2 3/4 in. (7 cm) high

$10,000 - 15,000 $10,000 - 15,000
西藏 約十六世紀 銅鎏金金剛杵 尼泊爾 十六/十七世紀 十二臂文殊菩薩銅像

Referred to within the name of Shakyamuni’s seat of enlightenment Manjushri Namasangiti is one of the most important deities within the
(vajrasana), this vajra symbolizes the immutable quality of the spiritual Newari Buddhist tradition of the Kathmandu Valley. He is conceived
truth Shakyamuni unveiled. Used as ritual implement in Tibet, it is cast as the spiritual progenitor of all Tathagatas and the entire Buddhist
with five-prongs, four of them turned inwards on the central prong. cosmos. Manjushri Namasangiti’s multi-armed form is a metaphor
The style of this vajra derives from early Ming imperial workshops for his cosmic portent, providing him with six arms to represent each
of the 15th century, but has more slender petals and a shorter grip, of the Five Buddha Families and Vajrasattva. See an earlier Nepalese
suggesting a date from the subsequent century. Compare with closely bronze image of the deity published in von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan
related examples sold at Christie’s, New York, 22 March 2013, lot Bronzes, Hong Kong, 2003, p.356, no.94A.
1253, and Bonhams, Hong Kong, 2 October 2018, lot 120.

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