Page 129 - Bonhams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art March 2019

906
A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF NARO DAKINI For a stylistic comparison, see the treatment of this sculpture’s youthful
TIBET, CIRCA 12TH CENTURY figure, winding beaded necklace, and looped girdle on a c.12th-century
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61937 Pala bronze of Vajravarahi published in von Schroeder, Buddhist
6 in. (15.2 cm) high Sculptures in Tibet, Hong Kong, 2001, p.286, no.94A. Also, the
formation of her prominent garland, with severed heads tied by their
$30,000 - 50,000 hair, is similar to that of another Pala style Vajravarahi (ibid., p.1109,
no.289B). Lastly, compare a closely related bronze image of Naro Dakini
西藏 約十二世紀 那若空行母銅像 in the Potala Palace, captured in a 1991 photograph of Lima Lhakhang
(ibid., p.227; second row from the bottom, first on the left).
Striding on a prone figure with her head and skullcup raised to the sky,
this expressive sculpture depicts Naro Dakini, a form of Vajrayogini as Provenance
she appeared to Mahasiddha Naropa. Naropa is a root Indian guru Alice and Nasli Heeramaneck Collection
of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. Except for her jewelry and Sotheby’s, London, 7 July 1986, lot 110
garland of freshly severed heads, Naro Dakini is naked. Her wrathful
face – with three large eyes, flaming brows, and bared fangs – further
intensifies her visual impact. Triumphant and turned towards the
heavens, such figures of Naro Dakini are among Tibetan art’s most
heroic portrayals of the feminine divine.

INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 127