Page 262 - Sothebys Important Chinese Art April 3 2018

3679

A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF YAMANTAKA 清十八世紀 鎏金銅大威德金剛像
AND VAJRAVETALI
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
cast in the form of the yidam and consort standing in
alidhasana on trampled figures, birds and bovine animals,
all atop a lotus base with a beaded upper edge, the buffalo-
headed yidam portrayed ferocious with bulging eyes and a
gaping mouth, surmounted by flaming hair, with thirty-two
outstretched arms and a pair wrapped around the consort,
holding in some of his hands implements and ritual weapons,
further depicted adorned with a garland of severed skulls, the
consort rendered in ecstatic union with the yidam and holding
a kapala filled with amrita in the raised left hand and a kartrika
in the right
20 cm, 7⅞ in.
HK$ 600,000-800,000
US$ 77,000-103,000

The complex and powerfully modelled sculpture depicts
Yamantaka Vajrabhairava, the wrathful manifestation of
Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Discriminating Wisdom, together
with his consort Vajravetali in ecstatic union. The large and
ferocious buffalo head of Vajrabhairava with towering, fiery
tresses coiled into thick ropes dominate the sculpture and
commands the focal point, as it is the same size as the torso
and legs. Six fierce human faces wrap around the back of the
buffalo head, and are surmounted by a further fierce human
face and the head of wrathful Manjushri.
Vajrabhairava, or Adamantine Anger, the destroyer of
ignorance and fear of death, is one of the principal yidams
of the Geluk sect, the Tibetan Buddhist order founded by
Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) that was later favoured at the Qing
court. The Geluk sect enjoyed increased importance amongst
the emperors of the Ming dynasty. From the mid-17th century
on, The Geluk lineage were the dominant theocratic power
in Tibet through the Dalai Lama, and the sole represented
Tibetan Buddhist lineage within China.
Tsongkhapa, as well as the Manchu emperors, were
additionally considered manifestations of the bodhisattva
Manjushri, explaining in part the popularity of Vajrabhairava
within China. The Qing emperors maintained direct links with
the Dalai and Panchen Lamas and propagated the Geluk
lineage of Buddhism within China, sponsoring the construction
of numerous monasteries and temples around the capital
of Beijing. Vajrabhairava, the all-powerful manifestation of
Manjushri, was thereby symbolic of the ultimate imperial
authority. This awe-inspiring statue serves to enforce the
imperial mandate while representing the highest ideals of the
spiritual path to Buddhist enlightenment.
Another figure of similar size, iconography and workmanship
is illustrated by Hung Shih Chang and Jessica P.P. Hsu, eds.
Buddhist Art from Rehol: Tibetan Buddhist images and ritual
objects from the Qing dynasty Summer Palace at Chengde,
Taipei, 1999, p. 122, pl. 46. See also a closely related gilt-
bronze figure of Yamantaka and Vajravetali, sold at Christie’s
New York, 15th-16th March 2015, lot 3214.

260 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比