A SILVER-INLAID BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRAKILA

Description:

Tibet, Pala Revival style, 18th cent.
H. 15 cm
Standing with four legs in alidhasana on a pair of figures reclining on the lotus base, his six arms radiating around his body, the principle hands partly broken and originally holding the vajrakila, the others holding vajra and showing the tarjanimudta, ithyphallic, pair of wings behind his shoulders, wearing tiger-skin skirt, malas of severed heads and skulls, elephant-skin draped over his shoulders, bejewelled, his cold-gilded triple-faced head displaying each a ferocious expression with bulging eyes below bushy eyebrows, open mouth showing teeth and fangs, painted facial details, his red-coloured flaming hairdo secured with a tiara decorated with skulls, traces of gilding.
Important German private collection, assembled before 1980
The depiction of Vajrakīlaya (Tib. rDo-rje phur-pa), one of the central wrathful deities of Vajrayāna Buddhism, is one of the most complex iconographic themes in tantric art. He embodies the enlightened force that transforms obstacles and the negative energy of passions into enlightenment. This 18th-century bronze follows the so-called Pāla Revival style, a conscious return to the classical models of the East Indian Pāla dynasty (8th-12th centuries), whose art was considered the epitome of Buddhist form in Tibet. Typical features include compact proportions, symmetrical composition, finely engraved ornamental bands. - Slightly chipped, very minor damages due to age