AN IMPORTANT GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF DORJE LEGSPA

Estimated Value:

20.000 € - 30.000 €

Result:

77.700 € incl. Premium and VAT

Description:

China, Dolon Nor, Inner Mongolia, 18th c.
H. 47,5 cm
Dorje Legspa originally belonged to the underprivileged caste of blacksmiths. He was hostile to Padmasambhava, but was subdued by the Great Guru, and in this context received the title Damcan - "The Oath-bound One". Damcan Dorje Legspa is regarded in the Nyingma tadition as a high-ranking Dharma Protector (Dharmapala), who is the guardian of the (Dharma) treasures. He is the black and blue blacksmith holding a hammer and bellows in his hands (missing here). His face is wrathful and on his forehead he shows the wisdom eye. He usually wears a broad-brimmed hat, but here his fiery red hair stands steeply up. Above his forehead he wears a fivefold crown of skulls. The silk robes, with finely punched hems, have wide-cut sleeves, and the upper garment is held together by a belt. From his neck hangs a necklace of skulls strung on entrails, with fifty-one fresh human heads, to be understood as his overcoming negative qualities. He rides sideways on a billy goat whose horns are twisted together. The goat strides through a lake of blood surrounded by a mountain fringe. The blood comes from his enemies who have turned against the Dharma and whom he has subdued as protectors.
From an old German private collection, acquired before 1990
Dolon Nor is a town in the administrative seat of Duolun District, Xilin Gol League in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Dolon Nor is of historical importance because the remains of Shangdu, the summer capital of Kublai Khan and subsequent Mongol emperors of the Yuan Dynasty, lie about 28 kilometres northwest of the modern city. From the 17th century, the Manchu emperors of the Qing dynasty developed the city as a religious centre. Dolo Nor gained importance through the production of up to oversized altar sculptures in repoussé technique, and thangka paintings. This large altar sculpture has revisions indicating larger and smaller bubbles that occurred during the casting process and were carefully repaired afterwards with brass plates and in spots. The base is sealed with a copper plate, and bears the traditional protective seal - the double vajra. Somewhat rubbed, the attributes lost

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