Page 19 - Wrathful Images

港，1992年，圖版75-1、75-2。永樂一朝，此類小型造
像多賜予西藏高僧或佛寺，而此尊尺寸宏偉，應為漢
地佛寺定造，或奉於京城天子腳下。宣德帝一改永樂
厚賞西藏之風，多修藏傳造像供於漢地。

縱覽公共及私人收藏，有以下明初銅鎏金大像可與
此尊寶帳大黑天作比：大成就者毘魯巴，79公分，藏
維多利亞與艾爾伯特博物館，展於《Ming: 50 Years
that changed China》，大英博物館，倫敦，2014
年，編號204（圖三）；宣德年款優塡王佛，64公分，
藏賽努奇博物館，出處同前，圖版175；永樂年款菩
薩，136公分，原奉青海瞿曇寺，現藏賽努奇博物館，
錄杜凯鹤，《Faith and Empire: Art and Politics
in Tibetan Buddhism》，魯賓藝術博物館，2019
年，編號1.17；四臂大黑天，57.8公分，售於紐約蘇
富比1998年3月26日，編號161（圖四）；及菩提曼拏
羅基金會珍藏喜金剛，同場呈現（編號2）。另比七

Above left:
Fig. 2: Panjaranatha Mahakala (Gur gyi mgon po), China, Ming dynasty, Yongle period, 15th century, Gilt brass, 9 in., 22.8 cm, Ulrich von
Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol. II, Hong Kong, 2001, pl. 348A.
Above right:
Fig. 3: Mahasiddha Virupa, Gilded bronze, Yongle period, 15th century, 31⅛ x 16⅛ in., 79 x 41 cm, Victoria and Albert Museum, London,
purchased with the support of the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation, V&A 15-12-2010, pl. 204.
圖二：寶帳大黑天，明永樂，銅鎏金，十五世紀，22.8公分，烏爾里希・馮・施羅德，《Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet》，卷2，香
港，2001年，圖版348A
圖三：大成就者毘魯巴，銅鎏金，明永樂，十五世紀，79 x 41公分，，維多利亞與艾爾伯特博物館，由何鴻毅家族基金支持購
藏，V&A 15-12-2010，圖版204

statues depicting Panjarnata Mahakala is known, including one in the collection of the Potala Palace,
Lhasa, see Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol. II, Hong Kong, 2001, pl. 348A (fig.
2), and the damascened iron figure in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see, Yang Xin et al., Cultural Relics of
Tibetan Buddhism Collected at the Qing Palace, Hong Kong, 1992, pls 75-1 and 75-2. During the Yongle
period, these smaller statues were often gifted to Tibetan hierarchs or monasteries, whereas this large
temple sculpture is likely to have been commissioned for a Chinese shrine, perhaps in the capital, Beijing.
The Xuande Emperor did not follow the same policy as his predecessor of lavishing gifts on Tibetans, but
was known to continue the commissioning of Vajrayana Buddhist bronzes for shrines within China.

The Panjarnata Mahakala is one of a select group of large early Ming Buddhist gilt-bronze temple statues
in public and private collections that include the 79 cm mahasiddha Virupa in the Victoria and Albert
Museum, included in the exhibition, Ming: 50 Years that changed China, The British Museum, London,
2014, cat. no. 204 (fig. 3); the 64 cm Xuande-reign marked Udayana Buddha in the Musée Cernuschi ibid,
pl. 175: the 136 cm Yongle-reign marked bodhisattva in the Musée Cernuschi from Qutansi monastery,
Qinghai Province, illustrated in Karl Debreczeny, Faith and Empire: Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism,
Rubin Museum of Art, 2019, cat. no. 1.17; a 57.8 cm Chaturbhuja Mahakala at Sotheby’s New York, 26th
March 1998, lot 161 (fig. 4); the Bodhimanda Foundation Kapaladhara Hevajra (lot 2) in this catalogue;
and seven more large and important early Ming tantric gilt-bronze figures, formerly in the Gumpel
Collection, which were offered at Hôtel Drouot, Paris, in 1904, including a Vajrabhairava and consort, later
sold at Sotheby’s New York, 25th March 1999, lot 122 (fig. 5); an Ekavira Vajrabhairava sold at Christie’s

32 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11409