Page 30 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Tantra Buddhost Art

Rotund Jambhala, the lord of wealth and abundance, is
seated on a lotus pedestal with the right foot extended in
bodhisattva posture and holding his identifying accoutrements
the bijapuraka fruit and the mongoose. He is adorned in an
elegant foliate shawl, with the crown, headdress, earrings,
necklace and armlets richly inlaid with semi-precious stones
and glass lozenges. The unusual and highly distinctive lotus
platform rests atop short, openwork beaded pillars.
The practice and invocation of Jambhala is found in the
Anuttarayoga system in the Guhyasamaja, Hevajra and
Chakrasamvara Tantras. His practice is associated with the
accumulation of wealth, both spiritual and worldly, and thus
his association with the mongoose disgorging jewels.
Another fourteenth century ungilt figure of Jambhala of the
same size in the British Museum (acc. no. 1983,1109.1) from
the John H. Barnett Collection has similarly characteristic
arched eyebrows; inlaid disk earrings and U-shaped necklace
falling to the belly; the broad face and physique; and the highly
distinctive floral garland which encirled the shoulder and pools
between the feet of the deity.

28 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比