Page 19 - September 20th 2021, Indian and Himalayan Art Christie's NYC

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)