A GILT-LACQUERED AND PAINTED SILVER FIGURE OF SUPERSECRET HAYAGRIVA AND CONSORT, TIBET, 18TH-19TH CENTURY

Expert’s note: Not only is this work exceptionally modeled with tremendous attention to detail, but the use of silver, a rare metal in Himalayan production, establishes it as a highly important commission. Supersecret Hayagriva is a rare form of Hayagriva found in lineage and practice only in the Sakya Tradition and the Sera monastery of the Gelug tradition, where they are known as Padma Ishvara and Tamdrin Yang Sang (‘Very Secret’), respectively. The deity Begtse Chen is regarded as the special protector deity associated with Padma Ishvara.

This meditational deity is possibly derived from the Nyingma Kama or Terma traditions, suggested by the following excerpt from a Nyingma liturgical text:

"To the Dharma body of all conquerors of the Lotus Lineage,
Vajra body of the Dharma Lord Amitabha,
In a raging great form, emanating from Avalokiteshvara;
Homage to Hayagriva, neighing like a horse."
(See Himalayan Art Resources, item number 23571)

Finely and heavily cast, the winged, four-legged, six-armed wrathful deity striding in alidhasana in union with his consort atop prostrate figures on an oval lotus base with beaded rims, his primary arms holding a kartika and kapala, the upper secondary hands grasping the hind paws of the tiger-skin wrapped around his back and tied around his waist, while the lower hands are each held in karana mudra, his body further adorned with a garland of severed heads, both with beaded jewelry and festoons.

His three skillfully modeled faces are richly gilt and painted, each displaying a wrathful expression marked by bulging eyes, furrowed brows centered by a third eye, bared teeth, and fiery beard, the flaming hair rising upward and issuing the characteristic horse head below a skull tiara. The base sealed with a copper plate incised with a vishvavajra.

Provenance: Galerie Koller, Zurich, 25 June 1993, lot 68 (attributed to Nepal and dated ca. 19^th century). An important private collection in southern Germany, acquired from the above and thence by descent.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear and manufacturing irregularities, light tarnish, the wings slightly loose, few minuscule losses to base and back, the figure affixed to the separately cast base with remnants of adhesive, rubbing and losses to gilt and pigments.

Weight: 988.4 g
Dimensions: Height 12.8 cm

Literature comparison:
Compare a related larger gilt-bronze figure of Supersecret Hayagriva Father-Mother (yab-yum), dated to the first half of the 18^th century, 34.3 cm high, formerly in the Alice S. Kandell Collection and now in The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number S2016.35.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 13 September 2017, lot 623
Price: USD 118,750 or approx. EUR 134,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare silver alloy figure of Hayagriva, Eastern Tibet, 19^th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, modeling, manner of casting, and gilt and painted decoration. Note the size (20 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 16 March 2015, lot 52
Price: USD 43,750 or approx. EUR 51,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A silver figure of Mahakala and Yamari, Tibet, circa 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and decoration. Note the size (10.7 cm).