Page 67 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Tantra Buddhost Art

In many of the early Tibetan bronze figures from the Nyingjei
Lam Collection, we find the commanding legacy of Pala
sculpture in multiple aspects including the elegance of form,
the use of silver and copper inlay, and the stepped lotus
platforms, all of which can be found in the current work.

Jambhala, Lord of Wealth and Abundance, is recognisable
in his terrifying form of Kala Jambhala by his distinctive
iconography, and is often portrayed as a fierce, ithyphallic
figure. In the present lot, Kala Jambhala is depicted as a
dwarf with thick, squat limbs; he is garlanded with snakes
and his hair tied in an elaborate top-knot; a small figure of
Amoghasiddhi rests atop the jatamukata; he holds a kapala
in his right hand; and he stands in alidhasana atop a prostrate
figure of Yellow Jambhala, who disgorges a shower of jewels
from his mouth and whose left hand gently props up the
heavy right thigh of his oppressor. It is possible that the usual
raised arm of Yellow Jambhala may serve a dual purpose as a
structural convention to reinforce the sculpture.

Compare the copper inlay; the sash and raised arm of Yellow
Jambhala used as a support; and the wide, downturned single
row of lotus petals on the base surmounted by a single row
of beaded pearls with another thirteenth/fourteenth century
ungilt bronze figure of Kala Jambhala also from the Nyingjei
Lam Collection, see lot 3111.

THE HEART OF TANTRA – BUDDHIST ART INCLUDING PROPERTY FROM THE NYINGJEI LAM COLLECTION 65