A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF VAIROCANA
FROM AN AKSHOBHYAVAJRA GUHYASAMAJA MANDALATIBET, DENSATIL STYLE, 15TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.13053
21 cm (8 1/4 in.) high注脚Holding (Three-Eyed) Akshobhyavajra Guhyasamaja's attributes, this enthroned six-armed figure would have likely been part of a magnificent sculptural mandala dedicated to this transformative meditation deity (yidam). More specifically, but for the figure's semi-wrathful expression, his three faces, the order of his attributes, and the lions in his throne, almost certainly identify him as the 'secret essence' of Vairocana, as he is described, for instance, in the Nispanna-Yogavali, an important 12th-century treatise on mandalas (Chandra & Sharma, Nispanna-Yogavali, New Delhi, 2015, p.31). Compare the counter-clockwise sequence of his held lotus, vajra, chakra, bell, flaming jewel, and sword to Vairocana's appearance in the central southern quadrant of a painted Akshobyavajra Guhyasamaja mandala sold at Bonhams, New York, 17 March 2014, lot 18. Another gilt bronze six-armed deity sold at Seeks Auction, Beijing, 7 June 2017, lot 3071, represents the secret essence of Amoghasiddhi and is from the same set. Likely composed between 750 and 850 CE, the Guhyasamaja Tantra ("Secret Assembly Tantra") is one of the earliest and most important Highest Yoga Tantras (Anuttarayoga Tantras), referred to in Tibet as the "king of tantras" (rgyud kyi rgyal po).

Heavily gilded and adorned with inset turquoise, this accomplished bronze was created in the style produced for the famed central Tibetan monastery, Densatil. Sculptural images from Densatil are known for their complex jewellery and Nepalese-inspired rounded physiognomy, as seen in the present example. Its stepped pedestal, with scrolling vines emerging from a life-generating vase (purnakalasa) in the central section flanked by two snow lions, is also found on a Densatil four-armed goddess in the Potala Palace (von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Hong Kong, 2001, p.1040, no.260A).

The distinctive lotus petals–with two plump layers with frilled tips–follow earlier Densatil models, such as a 14th-century figure of Amoghasiddhi in the Museum Rietberg (Czaja & Proser (eds.), Golden Visions of Densatil, New York, 2014, pp.136-7, no.31). In the present bronze, the frilled petal tips are now stylized into a series of incised lines. This later petal type is common to a number of sculptures, including an Ushnishavijaya also at the Museum Rietberg (Uhlig, On the Path to Enlightenment, Zurich, 1995, p.153, no. 98), a 15th-century gilt bronze Buddha sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 2 October 2018, lot 37, and a dancing multi-armed deity sold at Sotheby's, London, 5 June 1989, lot 56.

This skilfully modelled image compares favorably to another bronze of the same subject and similar style published in Huang, Studies on the History of gDan-sa-mthil, Beijing, 2016, p.194, no.124. Also compare the face with large swollen eyes, cusped eyebrows, jewels, and lotus petals with a Vasudhara formerly in the Sandor Fuss Collection (Christie's, New York, 21 March 2008, lot 621), as well as a Mahasiddha Jalandharapa in the John and Berthe Ford Collection (Pal, Desire and Devotion, Baltimore, 2001, p.296, no.172).

Provenance
The Philip Goldman Collection, London
Sotheby's, New York, 21 March 2002, lot 108


銅鎏金大日如來像
出自密集不動金剛壇城
西藏，丹薩替風格，十五世紀
喜馬拉雅藝術資源網13053號
高21釐米（8 1/4英吋）

2,800,000-3,400,000港幣

手持三眼密集不動金剛之法器，此尊端坐寶座之六臂像應來自一組以密集不動金剛為主尊的極其壯觀的造像壇城。除其半忿怒相以外，主尊的三面、法器之順序以及王座上之獅子均與大日如來之秘密像一致，例如，十二世紀重要的壇城章法《究竟瑜伽鬘》中便有相關記載（見Chandra與Sharma，《究竟瑜伽鬘》，新德里，2015年，頁31）。自其右上臂起，六臂分別持蓮花、金剛杵、轉經輪、金剛鈴、火焰狀珠寶以及一柄長劍（逆時針順序），與一張密集不動金剛壇城唐卡中位於南象限的大日如來一致（參見邦瀚斯，紐約，2014年3月17日，拍品18）。另一尊出自北京古天一拍賣之銅鎏金像（2017年6月7日，拍品3071）則刻畫了不空成就佛之秘密像，與本拍品應屬同組。完成於公元750年至850年間之《密集金剛續》為無上瑜伽續中最早、最重要的著作之一，在西藏被稱為「密教經典之王」。

本尊工藝精湛的造像鎏金厚重華美，鑲嵌以斑斕的綠松石，呈現丹薩替造像風格。丹薩替造像以繁複的珠寶裝飾及受尼泊爾傳統影響而形成的圓潤身形著稱，本尊造像亦是如此。作品的多級台座中央部分刻畫捲曲藤紋自長生甘露寶瓶中蔓延而出，左右兩側各有一雪獅，同樣之底座可參考布達拉宮藏丹薩替四臂佛母像（馮·施羅德，《西藏佛教造像》，香港，2001年，頁1040，編號206A）。

底座上的蓮瓣由兩層飽滿的褶邊花瓣組成，這種獨特樣式由一種早期丹薩替蓮瓣造型演變而來，該早期樣式可見於瑞特堡博物館收藏的一尊十四世紀不空成就佛像（Czaja與Proser編，《Golden Visions of Densatil》，紐約，2014年，頁136-7，編號31）。在本拍品中，蓮瓣尖端的褶皺邊緣被抽象成一道道的刻紋，這種稍晚期的蓮瓣樣式亦在諸多造像中普遍存在，例如瑞特堡博物館中一尊尊勝佛母像（Uhlig，《On the Path to Enlightenment》，蘇黎世，1995年，頁153，編號98）、一尊由邦瀚斯售出之十五世紀銅鎏金佛像（香港，2018年10月2日，拍品37）以及一尊出自蘇富比之多臂舞神像（倫敦，1989年6月5日，拍品56）。

本尊造像之藝術水準勝過另一尊出版於黃春和著《西藏丹薩替寺歷史研究》中題材相同且風格近似之銅像（北京，2016年，頁194，編號124）。此外，其怒目圓睜、波浪眼眉的面容、珠寶裝飾風格以及蓮瓣構造皆可與Sandor Fuss舊藏中的財源天母像（佳士得，紐約，2008年3月21日，拍品621）以及John與Berthe Ford珍藏中的大成就者像相比較（Pal，《Desire and Devotion》，巴爾的摩，2001年，頁296，編號172）。

來源
Philip Goldman珍藏，倫敦
蘇富比，紐約，2002年3月21日，拍品108