HEVAJRA STATUETTE IN COPPER ALLOY WITH SILVER... Lot 9

HEVAJRA STATUETTE IN COPPER ALLOY WITH SILVER INLAY TIBET, TSANG PROVINCE, 15TH CENTURY Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4871 25.4 cm (10 in.) high Footnotes: A SILVER INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF HEVAJRA TIBET, TSANG PROVINCE, 15TH CENTURY 西藏 十五世紀 銅錯銀喜金剛像 Provenance: With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s This sculpture of Hevajra trampling a quatrain of piled corpses while raising his two left legs in a passionate dance represents his form in the 'Oral Instruction' Lineage. Also known as the Lamdre (or Margapala) Instruction Lineage, this tradition is said to have been first revealed to Mahasiddha Virupa in a vision from Nairatmya, the consort of Hevajra. The Lamdre, or the 'Path with the Result', is a system of philosophical and meditation techniques based primarily on the Hevajra cycle of Tantras, which were orally passed down from teacher to student and eventually became incorporated into the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism as their most important practice. Expertly cast with intricate details, squarish features, and animated eyes inlaid with silver, this superb figure distinguishes itself as one of the most remarkable pieces to have been made in the non-gilding ateliers of Tsang. Luxurious engravings located at the back of the base, which were likely made to fit the tangs of a separately-cast prabhamandala, allude to the Chinese embroidered silks that were sent to monasteries in Tsang as gifts, reaffirming the political trade alliances that were being forged among the leaders of the Sakya and the imperial courts of the Yuan and early Ming dynasties. A Tsang portrait of the Sakya Ngor lama Sanggye Pel, which was sold at Bonhams, New York, 14 March 2017, lot 3273, shares similarly rendered floral decorations at the lower portions of his patchwork robe. The round, beaded rim of Hevajra's lotus base, in addition to Nairatmya's cross-hatched apron, by contrast, pay homage to the gilding workshops that were concurrently flourishing in Central Tibet, including a gilt bronze Hevajra following in the artistic traditions of Sonam Gyaltsen (c. 1430), sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 7 October 2019, lot 931. Also attesting to the rarity of Hevajra images from Tsang are two other images that are cast together with their bases, one sold at Christie's, London, 19 June 1973, lot 153, and another published in, The Light of the Buddha: Buddhist Sculptures of the Palace Museum and Zhiguan Museum of Fine Art, 2019, pp. 374-5, no. 101; HAR 8237. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com