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Lot 77
A FINE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRASATTVA
Estimated Value:
5.000 € - 8.000 €
Result:
incl. Premium and VAT
Description:
Tibeto-Chinese, 18th cent.H. 17,7 cm
Seated in vajrasana on a lotus base with his right hand placed in front of his chest originally supporting the vajra while the left is resting on his leg holding the ghanta, wearing dhoti, scarf draped over his shoulders with the streamers encircling his arms and the finials curling up, bejewelled, his face displaying a serene expression with downcast expression below arched eyebrows that run into his nose-bridge, his blue coloured hairdo is combed in a chignon topped with a ratna and secured with a tiara ornamented with a pair of floating ribbons, unsealed
Old Berlin private collection
The figure of Vajrasattva occupies a central place in Vajrayana Buddhism. Regarded as the embodiment of the sambhogakaya-the “enjoyment body” of a Buddha-he is venerated as the deity of purification, invoked in rituals that cleanse the practitioner from the obscurations of karma. His iconography is precise and consistent: seated in vajraparyankasana, he holds the vajra close to the heart with his right hand and rests a ghanta (bell) upon the left thigh, uniting the male principle of skillful means with the female principle of wisdom.
During the 18th century, under the patronage of the Qianlong Emperor (1736-1795), the imperial workshops in Beijing and the Mongolian center of Dolonnor produced large numbers of gilt bronzes of Buddhist deities. These works were intended not only for Tibetan monasteries and Mongolian patrons but also for the Qing court itself, where Tibetan Buddhism functioned as a vehicle of political integration and legitimacy among Inner Asian populations - Vajra lost, very minor traces of age, good condition
