Page 36 - 2020 December 2 Bonhams Arts of Devotion bronzes and Stone carvings

Stylistically, the sculpture is informed by a period in Tibetan art history,
commencing in the 15th century, in which cultural exchange with the Ming court
inspired greater refinement in the depiction of silk garments and regalia. This is
reflected in the bronze’s intricate crown, beaded festoons, pleated lower garment,
and separately-cast flailing sashes. The sculpture’s scale, complexity, and rounded
facial type also indicate that it was likely produced by a Newari master craftsman,
belonging to an ethnic group native to the Kathmandu Valley who were deemed
the most skilled artisans in the Himalayas. Newars were employed for major artistic
projects in Central Tibet, including Densatil Monastery and the Gyantse Kumbum.
A gilded Acala sculpture from Densatil provides a good comparison for the facial
type (Uhlig, On the Path to Enlightenment, Zurich, 1995, p.173, no.116). So does
a gilt bronze of Vajradhara and his consort Prajnaparamita sold at Bonhams, New
York, 16 March 2015, lot 17, though the treatment of the regalia differs markedly.

This bronze’s regalia has a number of distinctive stylistic features attributed to
Central Tibet in the 16th century. One element is the thin, crisp casting of frilly
crown leaves. Their oval shape seemingly unifies the two predominant crown
types used previously in Tibetan art, comprising acute triangles and rounded
medallions. (For example, contrast two 14th-/15th-century gilded sculptures in
von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol.II, Hong Kong, 2001, pp.1049
& 1057, nos.264C & 268C-D). This Guhyasamaja’s crown also has a very rare
secondary row of floral medallions across the headband, which is also represented
in a Central Tibetan 16th-century thangka of Vajradhara in the Rubin Museum of
Art (HAR 903). Moreover, the present sculpture’s armbands have shorter foliate
surrounds seen in a 16th-century gilded sculpture of Vajravarahi (Huntington,
Circle of Bliss, Columbus, 2003, p.239, no.66), and a 16th-century painting of
Maitreya (HAR 65086). Furthermore, these armbands support clusters of four
turquoise settings commonly seen in 16th-century Central Tibetan painting. A
Central Tibetan Sakya thangka of Vajrapani provides a particularly good point of
comparison, approximating the Guhyasamaja’s regalia, including the short-loop
festoons of its necklace and girdle (HAR 34139). Given the present sculpture’s
scale, and Guhyasamaja Manjuvajra’s central position within his dedicated
mandala, this bronze would have almost certainly been part of a major artistic
project at an important monastery in the 16th century. Sakya or Ngor, for example,
from where painted mandalas of Guhyasamaja Manjuvajra are best known (cf. HAR
set no.518).

This sculpture was formerly in the collection of Christian Lequindre, who conducted
field studies, documenting the practice and rituals of remote tribal villages
throughout Nepal. With Marc Petit, Lequindre coauthored the catalog Nepal:
Shamanism and Tribal Sculpture, Infolio, 2009.

Exhibited
Tibet’s Secret Temple, Wellcome Collection, London, 19 November 2015—28
February 2016. (no. 17)

Provenance
Christian Lequindre, Paris, acquired in the 1980s
Private French Collection, acquired from the above in 2010

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