Page 42 - Irving Collection Part II Chinese Art

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L A C Q U E R • J A D E • B R O N Z E • I N K T H E R V I N G C O L L E C T I O N 髹金飾玉 - 歐雲伉儷珍藏

1103 A ROCK CRYSTAL BHAIRAVA KILA
NEPAL, 18TH CENTURY OR LATER

The fnial topped with a half-vajra and the heads of three deities, above an
eight-pronged vajra and three additional animal-form faces, and a two-
layered round of lotus pads stacked above the tripartite blade, with snakes
meandering down each side
10º in. (26 cm.) high
$25,000-35,000

PROVENANCE
Donald J. Wineman, 1 November 1989.
The Irving Collection, no. 552.

The kila is an important tool of Newari Buddhist priests and shaman.
This Vajrayana Buddhist ritual implement, known by the same name
in both Sanskrit and Newari, has parallels that suggest possible Vedic
origins, such as the lightning bolt wielded by Indra in his battle against
Vritra and the wooden spikes referred to in early Sanskrit ritual texts.
The present example is crafted with the faces of various deities,
distinguishing it as a ritual tool of the Vajrayana tradition still active in
the Kathmandu Valley.
Compare the present kila with an example at the Musée Guimet,
illustrated by G. Béguin, in Art ésotérique de l’Himâlaya: La donation
Lionel Fournier, Paris, 1990, p. 159, cat. no. 91. The Guimet example, dated
as eighteenth century, is stylistically identical to the present example,
although the components are slightly diferent, with the blades emerging
from a makara head, rather than the lotus pads, while also lacking the
three animal-form heads of the current example.

尼泊爾 十八世紀或以後 水晶陪臚金剛杵

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