Page 11 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art London Nov. 2019

The Property of a Lady 女士藏品

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A VERY RARE GILT-BRONZE INSCRIBED FIGURE OF The incised inscription on the reverse of the pedestal དཔའ་བོའི་སྡེ་ལ་ན་མོ་ reads:
‘dpa’ bo’i sde la na mo’, which may be translated as ‘Worship to
BUDDHA VĪRASENA
Tibet, 16th/17th century Vīrasena’, thus identifying the present figure as the Buddha Vīrasena.
Well cast seated in dhayanasana on a double-lotus pedestal framed
by beaded borders, the hands held in dharmachakra mudra holding Vīrasena, also known as Pawö-dé (‘Leader of the Warriors’) is
two lotus stems bearing a sutra and a sword rising to the shoulders, one of the 35 Buddhas of Confession. These are known from the
wearing a dhoti folded over the left shoulder, the benevolent face Mahāyāna Sutra of the Three Heaps (Triskandhadharmasutra). This
well modelled below the usnisha and flanked by elongated ears, the sutra describes the practice of purification by confession and making
reverse of the pedestal with an incised Tibetan inscription reading prostrations to these Buddhas and is part of the larger Stack of Jewels
‘dpa’ bo’i sde la na mo’. sutra (Ratnakutasutra). The Buddhas of Confession represent the
19.2cm (7 5/8in) high. omnipresence of Buddha with the power to help sentient beings realise
the nature of their sin. The present lot would therefore, have belonged
to a set of 35 Confessional Buddhas that have a similar appearance
£10,000 - 15,000 to each other. Compare with a related gilt-bronze figure of Buddha
CNY89,000 - 130,000 Viranandi, holding a sun in the right hand and a lotus in the left, Tibet,
18th century, from the Museum der Kulturen, Basel, illustrated on
十六/十七世紀 銅鎏金精進軍佛坐像 Himalayanart.org (item no.3313897).

Provenance: an English private collection

來源：英國私人收藏

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.