Page 18 - September 20th 2021, Indian and Himalayan Art Christie's NYC
P. 18

Property Of The Virginia Museum Of Fine Arts
                 Sold To Benefit Future Acquisitions



                  PROPERTY OF THE VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, SOLD TO BENEFIT
                  FUTURE ACQUISITIONS
                  407
                  A RARE BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRAPANI               印度東北部/西藏   十二/十三世紀   銅金剛手菩薩立像
                  NORTHEASTERN INDIA OR TIBET, 12TH-13TH CENTURY
                                                                  來源:
                  7æ in. (19.7 cm.) high                          Nasli及Alice Heeramaneck伉儷珍藏,鈕約,1969年前。
                  $30,000-50,000                                  維吉尼亞州藝術博物館,入藏於1969年 (館藏編號69.8.41)。
                  PROVENANCE:
                  Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, New York, before 1968.
                  Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, accessioned in 1968 (acc. no. 68.8.41)
                  EXHIBITED:
                  Iowa City, University of Iowa Museum of Art, Pala Art: Buddhist and
                  Hindu Sculpture from Eastern India, ca. 800-1200 A.D., 1969-70, no. 16.
                  LITERATURE:
                  W. Begley, Pala Art: Buddhist and Hindu Sculpture from Eastern India,
                  ca. 800-1200 A.D., Iowa City, 1969, no. 16.
                  Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 24664.








                  The present lot represents a rare and early form of Vajrapani, the
                  Great Bodhisattva of Power. Vajrapani here holds his eponymous
                  vajra  upright in his proper right hand, while a  ghanta  bell balances
                  atop a towering lotus on his proper left side. This standing figure is
                  often misidentified as Vajrasattva, who is restrained to only seated
                  meditation poses. A primary protective deity, Vajrapani is more often
                  recognized in his wrathful stance, as seen in the following lot.

                  The figure can be attributed to northeast India or central Tibet as it
                  shows significant borrowings from the art of the Pala period. Among
                  these stylistic tendencies are the flared double lotus base, Vajrapani’s
                  heavy lidded eyes, the beaded and looped festoons fashioning his
                  belt, and the heavy lotus stalks flanking the figure’s shoulders. The
                  figure’s pose and composition can be closely compared to standing
                  Pala period figures of Manjushri and Padmapani published by U. von
                  Schroeder in  Indo Tibetan Bronzes,  Hong Kong, 2004, pp. 286-287,
                  nos. 71D and 71E respectively. The figure of Manjushri is a particularly
                  close comparison, styled in a similarly thin, conical headdress, and
                  like the placement of Vajrapani’s ghanta bell, manuscript pages rest
                  on Manjushri proper left lotus blossom. Also compare the present
                  work to a thirteenth century Tibetan figure of Vajrapani seated in
                  lalitsana from the Nyingjei Lam collection (Himalayan Art Resources,
                  item no. 68421). The figures are paced on similarly styled double lotus
                  bases  with  beaded  rims,  similar  ghanta  and  vajra  iconography  and
                  placement, and share a serene facial expression.                    (reverse)
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