A silver and copper alloy figure of Vajrasphota, Western Tibet, 11th-12th century

A silver and copper alloy copper-inlaid figure of Vajrasphota
Western Tibet, 11th-12th century
藏西 十一至十二世紀 銀金剛鏁菩薩像連銅座

Himalayan Art Resources item no. 68449.
HAR編號68449

Height 8¾ in., 21.2 cm

Condition Report:
The silver figure is preserved in very good condition. There is a slight dent to the reverse of the pedestal, and several insignificant nicks to the base. Typical oxidization and other general surface wear.

Because this lot was imported into the United States after September 1, 2020, it is subject to an import tariff of 7.5% of the value declared upon entry into the United States. $33,750.00, plus applicable sales tax will be included on your invoice unless you instruct Sotheby's to arrange shipping of the lot to a foreign address. For more information on the import tariff, please review the Symbol Key in the back of the catalogue. If you have any questions, please contact tariffs@sothebys.com.

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Catalogue Note:
Vajrasphota is one of the Vajradhatu mandala gatekeepers, holding a chain (sphota) that binds the presence of the divinities and the mind of the practitioner within the mandala palace. The athletic posture of the deity is remarkably similar to another Vajradhatu mandala gatekeeper, Vajrankusa, painted on an eleventh century manuscript from Tholing Monastery in western Tibet, from the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, see Rob Linrothe, Collecting Paradise: Buddhist Art of Kashmir and its Legacies, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2014, fig. 2.23. Compare also the idiosyncratic coiffure of both guardian figures, with upward pointing tresses at either side of the head. A western Tibetan provenance, and a similar date of around the eleventh or early twelfth century is therefore likely for the Nyingjei Lam Vajrasphota. The powerful posture, and the scalloped pedestal design that evokes a mountain setting, echo the sculptural forms of Kashmir bronzes that influenced the art of western Tibet, such as the renowned circa 725 CE Chakrasamvara from the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, see Pratapaditya Pal, The Arts of Kashmir, Asia Society, 2007, fig. 92.

Important silver images were made in the Karkota period (7th-9th century) under King Lalitaditya (r. ca. 724-750) according to the historian Kalhana (fl. mid twelfth century), as seen in the following quote:

"Into the image of Muktakesava he put eighty-four thousand tolakas of gold. And collecting as many thousands of palas of silver, that pure-minded [king] made the famous statue of Parihasakesava. With just as many prasthas of copper he made the glorious [statue of] the ‘Great Buddha (Brhadbuddha) which reached up to the sky. M. A. Stein, Kalhana’s Rajatarangina: A Chronicle of the Kings of Kashmir, Oxford, 1892, R., Delhi, 1979, p. 142."

None survived — probably destroyed and melted for the metal value by subsequent rulers or invaders — but the tradition may have inspired the use of silver for the Nyingjei Lam Vajrasphota.

Kashmir bronzes are often inlaid with copper and silver and the Vajrasphota is likewise embellished, with nipples inlaid in copper. Compare the inlaid nipples on an another eleventh or twelfth century western Tibetan silver Manjushri in the Ashmolean Museum, see Amy Heller, Early Himalayan Art, Oxford, 2008, pp 116-17, cat. no. 37, and on a tenth or eleventh century western Tibetan silver figure in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 1984.211).

菩薩道金剛鏁菩薩，應源自藏西，造於十一至十二世紀早期。造像姿態雄渾有力，寶座紋飾仿似置身高山，呼應喀什米爾造像風格，藏西藝術深得其影響，例如 Nasli 與Alice Heeramaneck 珍藏一件勝樂金剛，造於約725年，參考 Pratapaditya Pal，《The Arts of Kashmir》，Asia Society，2007年，圖92。

據史家 Kalhana （活躍於十二世紀中）記載，卡爾科塔王朝（七至九世紀）Lalitaditya 國王在位期間，約724-750年，曾鑄造重要銀製佛像，可惜皆已失，或因銀質珍貴而被熔化改鑄，然此造像風格已得傳承，即如此像。

喀什米爾造像常見錯紅銅或銀，本像亦是，乳首錯紅銅。比較牛津阿須摩林博物館藏一尊十一至十二世紀藏西銀製文殊菩薩像，乳首亦錯紅銅，見 Amy Heller，《Early Himalayan Art》，牛津，2008年，頁116-7，編號37。並參考紐約大都會藝術博物館藏一尊十至十一世紀，藏西銀製佛像，館藏編號1984.211。