Beschreibung:

A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF VAJRAVARAHICENTRAL TIBET, DENSATIL MONASTERY, 15TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4909
29.5 cm (11 5/8 in.) high Footnotes藏中 丹薩替 十五世紀 銅鎏金金剛亥母像
Published:
Arman Neven, Le tantrisme dans l'art et la pensée, Bruxelles, 1974, p. 76, no. 386.
Exhibited:
Le tantrisme dans l'art et la pensée, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles, 7 March - 10 April 1974.
Provenance:
With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s
This gilt copper sculpture of Vajravarahi was once placed on the upper tier of a massive reliquary commemorating an important Buddhist teacher. It closely resembles several other surviving examples of the same genre with some variation in style and period, most dating from the 13th to 15th centuries. The first massive reliquary of this type was created at Drigung monastery in 1208. The founder of Drigung monastery, Jigten Gonpo (1143-1217), sought to suitably house the remains of his recently deceased and beloved teacher, Phagmodrupa (1110-70), inside a magnificent reliquary. He envisioned a monumental stupa in a design generally known as tashi gomang, meaning, "Many Doors of Auspiciousness". The first model he commissioned at Drigung became the foundation for a tradition of creating massive tashi gomang monuments, replete with thousands of images, at Drigung monastery and elsewhere in Tibet (Czaja and Proser (eds.), Golden Visions of Densatil, 2014, pp. 34 & 42).
Eight such monuments were created at Densatil monastery between the late 13th century to the first half of the 15th century. These remarkable structures at Densatil were photographed in 1948 by Italian photographer Pietro Francesco Mele, which provides a window into their former glory. These reliquaries measured five meters tall, forming a three-dimensional mandala, arranged in recessed tiers with the reliquary containing the remains of the deceased abbot on the highest tier. Encrusted with gems, the tashi gomang stupa has been described as "a huge golden mountain" (ibid, p. 54).
This type of reliquary tradition continued at Drigung monastery into the 17th century. A recent study has argued that similar 13th century sculptures of Vajravarahi were associated with a tashi gomang stupa at Drigung or elsewhere, and an example in the Rietberg Museum exhibits yet another style variation (see Weldon, 'Defining the Style of A Group of 13th Century Tibetan Gilt Copper Statues', in asianart.com, 13 September 2018, fig. 6; Uhlig, On the Path to Enlightenment, 1995, pp. 164-5, no. 109). The sculptural style of the present Vajravarahi differs from all the others, though all the Vajravarahi figures discussed range from about 30 to 40 centimeters in height. Olaf Czaja's study shows that such sculptures were placed on the uppermost tier of the reliquary platform at Densatil (Czaja and Proser [eds.], 2014, pp. 20-1, 35-6, fig. 15).
Details of this sculpture, including the crown style, facial type, figure, and jewelry closely compared to other sculptures from the eighth tashi gomang erected in 1434. Three other figures sold in this collection including a Vajraghanta, Kurukulla, and another Vajravarahi (see Bonhams, Paris, 12 June 2023, lots 14, 15 & 19). The crowns placed high along the crown of the head with tall pendants spaced apart from one another are visible on all of the bronzes. Sashes fall along the back of the ears each flaring out from the head, though the Vajravarahi and Kurukulla examples have the ends of their crown ties fluttering upwards. All of the bronzes exhibit wide, fleshy faces with large, bulging eyes. The bodies of these figures are solid and thick, each decorated with wide, beaded chains ornamented with large, semi-precious stones. Each exhibit characteristics of a new style appearing in Densatil during a period of artistic flourish around the 15th century.
Bonhams would like to thank Jane Casey for her assistance in preparing this lot.