VAJRAMUDGARA (MARTEAU RITUEL) EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE... Lot n° 34

VAJRAMUDGARA (MARTEAU RITUEL) EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE DORÉ CHINE, XVIIE SIÈCLE Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4641 30.9 cm (12 1/8 in.) high Footnotes: A GILT COPPER ALLOY VAJRAMUDGARA (RITUAL HAMMER) CHINA, 17TH CENTURY 中國 十七世紀 銅鎏金金剛鎚 Published: Arman Neven, Le tantrisme dans l'art et la pensee, 1974, p. 69, no. 321 Exhibited: Le tantrisme dans l'art et la pensee, Palais de Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles, 7 March - 10 April 1974. Provenance: With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s The vajramudgara, or adamantine hammer, is one of several indestructible armaments wielded by meditational deities such as Vajrabhairava and Kalachakra. In esoteric Buddhist practice, the hammer demarcates the sacred boundaries of a mandala during the preparatory stages of its ritual creation, either by driving triple-edged stakes (phurbas) into the ground or striking down hostile forces. Each decisive blow is a reflection of the practitioner's wisdom, tempered so as to glance off ignorance and delusion. Splendid, with rich gilding and brightly-colored inset stones, this ornate ritual implement likely derives from the famed ironwork foundries in Derge, East Tibet as commissioned by the Chinese imperial court between the 16th and 17th centuries. On the one hand, the present work stylistically connects with ritual objects made of damascened iron, such as a Yongle vajra-axe in the Cleveland Museum of Art (1978.9.1) and a brazier in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1992.257.2) in its application of ring-punched decorations, vajra enclosures, and octagonal segments. On the other hand, closer inspection of the vine-encircling flowers, double vajra (visvavajra), and fork-tailed ruyi clouds on the neck and face of the hammer reveal identifiable motifs from the Late Ming period, such as nearly identical cloud forms decorating a cinnabar lacquer box dated 1589 to the Wanli period, in the Tokyo National Museum (Carved Lacquer, 1984, p. 139, no. 196). These aforementioned decorations are not only found on Chinese lacquer, but also appear on 16th/17th century textiles, paintings, porcelain, and cloisonné, including a Ming cloisonné bowl with floral scroll decorations in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (29.110.88) and a 16th-century dish incised with a double vajra, published in Brinker, Chinese Cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry Collection, 1989, no. 73a. Furthermore, the use of inset coral and incised lines to enhance each flower petal bears worthwhile comparison to a Tibetan gold mandala gifted to the Shunzhi emperor in 1652 (Precious Deposits: Relics from Tibet, China vol. 4, pp. 14-5, no. 4), suggesting that the hammer coincides with the period of artistic transition between the Ming and Qing dynasties. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com Excellent overall condition, with obvious losses to a few insets, as is visible in images. There is a small but otherwise stable stress crack along the south-east edge of the hammer. Very minor dents and scratches to the face of the hammer. There is embedded red residue in recessed areas of the vajra prongs from exposure to Chinese temple incense within the culture. Please contact Sidney Lee (sidney.lee@bonhams.com) for related condition report images.