Page 137 - Bonhams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art March 2019

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A BRASS ALLOY AND IRON VAJRAKILA PURBHA A BRASS ALLOY VAJRAKILA PURBHA
TIBET, CIRCA 12TH CENTURY TIBET, CIRCA 13TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61957 Himalayan Art Resources item no.61955
14 1/4 in. (36.1 cm) long 15 1/2 in. (39.4 cm) long

$20,000 - 30,000 $20,000 - 30,000
西藏 約十二世紀 銅質鐵尖普巴金剛橛 西藏 約十三世紀 銅質普巴金剛橛

Many purbhas, like the present lot, personify the mediational deity A purbha is a ritual peg often used to subdue or exorcise harmful
Vajrakila. Unlike many Vajrakila purbhas, where only the deity’s three influences. According to legend, it is with the power of a purbha that
faces are shown, here his purbha-wielding arms are also depicted Padmasambhava subdued malevolent forces and cleared the path for
at the apex of this ritual implement. The miniature purbhas he grips Buddhism adoption in Tibet. The present work is a refined example of
have been so carefully rendered by the artist that their minute tripartite purbhas entirely cast in bronze. The three-faces of the deity Vajrakila
blades are also clearly visible. Compare a similar purbha in the Nyingjei at the top are meticulously rendered with tensed facial muscles,
Lam Collection (HAR 68328). bared fangs, and coiled snakes in the hair. Each face has a nuanced
expression. Separately cast earrings also add to the overall delicacy
Provenance and superior quality of this purbha’s casting. A larger purbha of similar
Private European Collection, acquired in the 1970s/1980s construction, formerly in the Halpert Collection, is published in Pal
Sotheby’s, New York, 20 March 2013, lot 223 (ed.), Tibet: Tradition and Change, Albuquerque, 1997, pp.164-5,
no.82.

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