A VERY RARE LACQUERED BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRAKILA
A VERY RARE LACQUERED BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRAKILA
A VERY RARE LACQUERED BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRAKILA
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VARIOUS PROPERTIES
A VERY RARE LACQUERED BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRAKILA

DATED TIANLI SECOND YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1329 AND OF THE PERIOD, OR POSSIBLY EARLIER                               

细节
A VERY RARE LACQUERED BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRAKILA


DATED TIANLI SECOND YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1329 AND OF THE PERIOD, OR POSSIBLY EARLIER                               
The deity is robustly cast seated in rajalilasana with his right leg raised and left foot stamping on a crouching devil. He has six arms; the upper right arm is raised high holding a purba, while two others are holding a sword and a kapala. He has three faces; the principal face has a ferocious expression with mouth agape revealing his fangs below bulging eyes, including a third eye. The two other faces have calmer countenances. The flame-like hair is adorned with a vajra in the centre. The bronze is lacquered in red and gold.
The interior underside has a carved eleven-character inscription.
10 in. (25.5 cm.) high, box
来源
Acquired in Japan in the 1990s

拍品专文

The inscription can be translated:

Second year of Tianli (1329), Yuanji Shrine, Monk Purui

The current figure is related to a group of Dali Kingdom sculptures depicting ferocious deities, but notable for its comparatively finer and more complex modelling. Two were discovered in the crypt of Qianxun Pagoda in Dali: one is a small seated Vajrakila figure, rather crudely modelled, illustrated in Zhang Yongkang, A Research on the Sculptures of Da-Li Buddha, Taipei, 2004, fig. 3, p. 9; the other is a standing Vajrakila, with very similar facial features to the present lot but also less refined, especially in the modelling of its clothing and hair, illustrated in ibid, fig. 57, p. 51 (fig. 1). Two are in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, both depicting Mahakala and stylistically closer to the current lot, illustrated in Jin Shen, Haiwai ji gangtai cang lidai foxiang, Beijing, 2005, p. 534. The figure closest in style to the current lot is the Lokapala Vaisravana in the British Museum (1972,0301.1)(fig. 2). Not only are the facial features in similar style, it is also interesting to note the almost identical treatment of the knees on both figures. Another interesting feature is the snakes emerging from the skulls worn on the heads of both figures. These details could point to a similar manufacture date for these two figures. Although the interior of this figure bears a dated inscription, it is not certain whether it is contemporary with the manufacture, or added by a later generation. Notwithstranding, the date of this figure would not be later than 14th century, and is
worthy of further study.

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