Page 51 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Tantra Buddhost Art

This elegant, miniature yidam or meditational deity Kurukulla 本尊雅緻精巧作明佛母乃觀世音菩薩化身，別稱咕嚕咕咧佛
is an emanation of the bodhisattva Red Tara. She is also 母，屬懷攝與守戒之尊，亦被視為二十一度母之紅色度母化
known as Tarodbhava Kurukulla, or the Tara-arisen Kurukulla. 現。本尊佛母貌如妙齡十六少女，代表調伏四魔，降伏煩惱
She is depicted here in the form of an alluring sixteen-year-old 情執。藏傳佛教之度母源於印度，十一世紀經印度上師阿底
girl, and in this manifestation she is invoked to magnetise and 峽尊者傳入藏地。
enchant negative forces to overcome outer, inner and secret
obstacles. The cult of the goddess Tara originated in India, 本尊佛母，特徵顯見東印度帕拉王朝風格。帕拉造型繁複、
and was later introduced into Tibet by Atisha Dipamkara in the 裝飾華麗，於十二世紀達至鼎盛。本品體幅雖小，但工藝嫻
eleventh century. 熟精妙，其身姿婀娜優美、寶飾繁縟；花葉紋細緻奇巧，通
身錯銀。
This small and masterful figure demonstrates the elegance
and artistic innovation for which art from the Pala period 本尊鎏金光彩照人、包漿厚潤。佛母面相柔和，慈目朝上凝
is renowned: the relaxed plasticity of form; the slender 視，雙眼、額、項鍊鑲嵌銀。辮髮盤起作高髻，中心飾蓮花
physiognomy and elaborate jewellery; the highly stylised floral 苞，頭戴寶冠，以飾帶固定於頭後。右第一手施與願印，右
and vegetative motifs; and the extensive use of precious metal 第二手執（紅烏巴拉花）箭作射勢；左第一手持蓮花，左第
inlay. 二手張（紅烏巴拉花）弓。

Kurukulla is depicted here with a rich, lustrous gilding 參考一尊十二世紀西藏度母造像，年代稍早，體姿優美、首
and patination. The silver inlay to the eyes, forehead and 飾身佩、薄蓮座，可與本尊相比，見 Susan L. Huntington
necklace stand out in vivid contrast to the gentle face, sweetly 及 John C. Huntington，《Leaves from the Bodhi Tree:
gazing upwards. Her plaited hair is piled in a high chignon, The Art of Pala India (Eighteenth-Twelfth Centuries) and Its
ornamented with a lotus bud finial and a crown secured International Legacy》，西雅圖，1990年，圖127-128。本
around the back of the head with a cast sash. The primary 尊之蓮座微傾，蓮花瓣寬，可比較一件同年代蓮座連階梯台
right hand is held up in varadamudra, the secondary right 座，出處同上，圖151。再有另一件十二世紀仿帕拉王朝時
hand holds an arrow aloft. The primary left hand grasps the 期造像台座，載於烏爾裡希．馮．施羅德，《Indo-Tibetan
stem of a lotus flower, and the secondary right hand holds Bronzes》，香港，1981年，頁282，編號69A。
aloft a bow.

Compare the sensuous form, jewellery type, and thin-petalled
lotus accoutrement with a twelfth century Tibetan figure of
Tara, see Susan L. Huntington and John C. Huntington, Leaves
from the Bodhi Tree: The Art of Pala India (Eighth-Twelfth
Centuries) and Its International Legacy, Seattle, 1990, figs
127-128. Also compare the misaligned lotus throne with wide
petals with a contemporaneous lotus throne and stepped
base, see ibid. fig. 151; as well as the base of a twelfth century
Pala period stylistic predecessor, see Ulrich von Schroeder,
Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p. 282, cat. no. 69A.

THE HEART OF TANTRA – BUDDHIST ART INCLUDING PROPERTY FROM THE NYINGJEI LAM COLLECTION 49