Page 12 - Indian and Himalayan Art Mar 21, 2018 NYC

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF DR. GEORGE S. HEYER, JR. (1930-2015)

303

A GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRABHAIRAVA
AND VAJRAVETALI
TIBET, 16TH CENTURY
9¡ in. (24 cm.) high
$150,000-250,000

PROVENANCE
Sotheby’s New York, 23 March 1995, lot 53.
New York art market.
Acquired by George S. Heyer from the above on
2 April 2005; thence by descent.
LITERATURE
Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.org), item no. 24389

This dynamic gilt bronze fgure depicts the ferocious couple Vajrabhairava and
Vajravetali in sexual union, symbolizing the dualistic totality encompassing
compassion, embodied by the male and wisdom, associated with the female.
Eight of Vajrabhairava’s nine faces display bulging eyes and bared fangs
emblematic of his wrathful nature. In his hands he holds various tantric
weapons that enable him to conquer death, including a curved knife and
skullcup at center. Vajravetali wraps her leg around her partner’s waist and
tilts her head back to meet his gaze. The two fgures bear perfectly cast
and expertly painted wrathful expressions, which aptly convey their power.
Typically hidden by an attached repoussé fayed elephant skin, here the
sculptor has cast the elephant skin with an open center onto the verso of
Vajrabhairava, providing a unique view of the goddess’s foot and the god’s
muscular back.
This particular form of Vajrabhairava is a wrathful emanation of Manjushri,
the Bodhisattva of Perfect Wisdom. The host of animals and Hindu deities
he tramples under his many legs represent ignorance and human ego, and his
posture demonstrates the enlightened activity he embodies. Compare with a
very similar gilt bronze fgure of Vajrabhairava and Vajravetali from the Sporer
Collection sold by Christie’s New York, 15 September 2015.
西藏 十六世紀 鎏金銅大威德金剛像

A gilt bronze fgure of Vajrabhairava and Vajravetali,
Tibet, 16th century, sold at Christie’s New York,
15 September 2015, lot 18, for $989,000.

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