10th Apr, 2025 11:00
TWO-DAY AUCTION: Fine Asian Art, Buddhism and Hinduism
15
A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRAYOGINI, TIBETAN-CHINESE, 18TH CENTURY
Sold for €3,640
including Buyer's Premium
Cast in three separate parts, the deity striding in alidhasana atop two prostate figures on a double lotus base with beaded rim, holding a karttrika in her outstretched right hand and a kapala in the left, clad in beaded jewelry with a dharma wheel at the chest, a garland of skulls around her shoulders, and a billowing sash framing her body. Her wrathful face with three eyes, the hair neatly incised and surmounted by a jewel finial behind the skull tiara. Backed by a tall flaming mandorla lacquered red to the back.
The base sealed with a double vajra.
Provenance: From an old private collection in Austria, acquired in North America in the first half of the 20th century, thence by descent in the family. A copy of an old photograph of the current figure, the back of which is inscribed ‘Tibet-Bronze eines tanzenden Buddhas. 18. Jh’, accompanies the lot.
Condition: Good condition with minor wear, casting irregularities, few minute nicks and light scratches, rubbing and losses to gilt, remnants of pigment, minor losses to pegs, soldering marks to the sashes.
Weight: 544 g
Dimensions: Height 13.7 cm
This expressive gilded sculpture depicts Vajrayogini as she appeared to Naropa, one of the root Indian gurus of the Sakya school. Vajrayogini is the most important dakini in Tibetan Buddhism, which are a class of female celestial beings who take form in this world to train tantric masters in secret doctrines. Whereas she is more often shown dancing, here Vajrayogini is cast standing on prone figures with her head and skullcup raised to the sky – perhaps the most heroic pose afforded to any female figure in Tibetan art.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Paris, 16 June 2022, lot 135
Price: EUR 9,450 or approx. EUR 10,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare gilt-bronze figure of Vajrayogini, Qing dynasty, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and gilding, with a similar expression and skull garland. Note the size (16.2 cm) and lack of mandorla.
Cast in three separate parts, the deity striding in alidhasana atop two prostate figures on a double lotus base with beaded rim, holding a karttrika in her outstretched right hand and a kapala in the left, clad in beaded jewelry with a dharma wheel at the chest, a garland of skulls around her shoulders, and a billowing sash framing her body. Her wrathful face with three eyes, the hair neatly incised and surmounted by a jewel finial behind the skull tiara. Backed by a tall flaming mandorla lacquered red to the back.
The base sealed with a double vajra.
Provenance: From an old private collection in Austria, acquired in North America in the first half of the 20th century, thence by descent in the family. A copy of an old photograph of the current figure, the back of which is inscribed ‘Tibet-Bronze eines tanzenden Buddhas. 18. Jh’, accompanies the lot.
Condition: Good condition with minor wear, casting irregularities, few minute nicks and light scratches, rubbing and losses to gilt, remnants of pigment, minor losses to pegs, soldering marks to the sashes.
Weight: 544 g
Dimensions: Height 13.7 cm
This expressive gilded sculpture depicts Vajrayogini as she appeared to Naropa, one of the root Indian gurus of the Sakya school. Vajrayogini is the most important dakini in Tibetan Buddhism, which are a class of female celestial beings who take form in this world to train tantric masters in secret doctrines. Whereas she is more often shown dancing, here Vajrayogini is cast standing on prone figures with her head and skullcup raised to the sky – perhaps the most heroic pose afforded to any female figure in Tibetan art.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Paris, 16 June 2022, lot 135
Price: EUR 9,450 or approx. EUR 10,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare gilt-bronze figure of Vajrayogini, Qing dynasty, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and gilding, with a similar expression and skull garland. Note the size (16.2 cm) and lack of mandorla.
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