Page 130 - 2019 September 11th Christie's New York Chiense Art Himalayan bronzes and art

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE ASIAN COLLECTION
365
A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRAPANI
TIBET, 16TH-17TH CENTURY
4 in. (10.5 cm.) high

$7,000-9,000

PROVENANCE
Rudi Oriental Arts, New York, 1960s, by repute.
Property from the Collection of Dr. John Mann; Sotheby’s
New York, 16 March 2016, lot 719.
The wrathful or yidam tutelary deity stands in a powerful
lunge, or alidhasana, on a lotus base, his right hand
brandishing a vajra, the left in tarjani mudra, wearing a
tiger skin and snake ornaments. Vajrapani, originally a
peaceful bodhisattva in the Mahayana tradition, has a
wrathful manifestation within the Tantric or Vajrayana
Buddhist tradition.
Vajrapani the keeper of all the tantras, the ‘Lord of Secrets’
or Guhyapati. The yidam takes this form for the sake of
liberating others with the power of this appearance. The
present sculpture was likely produced within the Newar
Buddhist tradition, in which the shallow, single-lotus
base and nearly-pure copper medium are common.

Himalayan Art Resource, item no. 13059.

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