CHAKRASAMVARA AND VAJRAVARHI STATUETTE IN GILDED... Lot 24

CHAKRASAMVARA AND VAJRAVARHI STATUETTE IN GILDED COPPER ALLOY AND REPOUSSÉ SILVER TIBET, XVE/XVIE CENTURY Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4884 20.3 cm (8 in.) high Footnotes: A GILT COPPER ALLOY AND SILVER REPOUSSÉ FIGURE OF CHAKRASAMVARA AND VAJRAVARHI TIBET, 15TH/16TH CENTURY 西藏 十五/十六世紀 銅鎏金及銀錘揲勝樂金剛與金剛亥母像 Provenance: With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s This exceptional gilt bronze depicts the meditational deity (yidam) Chakrasamvara (lit. 'Wheel of Bliss') comprised of male and female enlightened beings depicted in a sexual embrace, symbolic of the transcendent bliss that skilled Tantric practitioners experience on completion of the Chakrasamvara Tantra. Visualized as gendered embodiments of perfected wisdom (female) and compassion (male) merging into a perfected, interpenetrative union, Vajravarahi is embraced by Samvara whose arms are crossed at center holding the vajra and ghanta in a gesture signifying the successful integration of Tantra's two highest qualities. Richly ornamented with jewelry and inset gems, the complexity of this multi-armed deity overlaid with such detail, illustrates a mastery of the casting process coming from Nepal. The skull crown adorned with floral pendants, armlets and wrist bands, beaded swags and sashes, are all lavishly inset with turquoise as one entity. Certain elements, such as the implements of vajra, ghanta, damaru, and skullcup, are separately cast, as evident on other examples of the deity (HAR 2709). Gilt bronze figures of Chakrasamvara demanded the best craftsmen in order to produce complex meditational images that could both express and inspire the most exquisite state of mind. Chakrasamvara features prominently across all Tibetan Buddhist schools, and is the principal transformative deity for both the Kagyu and Sakya lineages. The Phagmodrupa Kagyu sect installed Chakrasamvara as the principal deity of Drigung monastery in Lhasa (founded 1179). Rising to great prominence in the 14th to 16th centuries, the Kagyu and Sakya orders formed strong ties with the imperial Yuan and Ming courts, and Tibetan Buddhist iconography strongly informed Buddhist art of the early Ming period. Images of Chakrasamvara proliferated during this exchange, as evidenced by a spectacular example from the Yongle period, sold at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 7 October 2007, lot 810. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com