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Lot Essay
Though Vajravarahi is frequently depicted in union with Chakrasamvara as the embodiment of wisdom, she also has an independent identity as a supreme deity and enlightened female. Here, the adamantine goddess commands a fierce scowl, with sharp fangs bulging from the corners of her mouth, while two exquisitely casted braids hang from her shoulders, rather than a sow’s head protruding from her temple as often seen in other examples. She lifts a curved knife in her right hand, and holds a trident in her left hand with the secondary left hand holding a blood-filled skull cup. The heavily bejeweled Vajravarahi wears a festooned belt around her waist and beaded necklaces with a prominent garland of severed heads.
In a departure from the prevailing dance posture, the four-armed deity steps to the left, with left leg bent and right leg straight, as if in a violent fight, trampling on a reclining body lying over the bottom pedestal. The present bronze sculpture is a rare example for its uncommon but expressive depiction of this wrathful and triumphant feminine divinity, exemplifying the rich stylistic diversity of Tibetan Buddhist art during the 12th century. Compare to a similarly stylized dancing Vajravarahi, an example of which is in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology at the Oxford University (acc. No. EA2000.117). The intensity of Indian tantrism inspired many Tibetans from the eleventh century onward, see a Tibetan example in the Pala style sold at our New York rooms on 23 March 2022, lot 428.
In a departure from the prevailing dance posture, the four-armed deity steps to the left, with left leg bent and right leg straight, as if in a violent fight, trampling on a reclining body lying over the bottom pedestal. The present bronze sculpture is a rare example for its uncommon but expressive depiction of this wrathful and triumphant feminine divinity, exemplifying the rich stylistic diversity of Tibetan Buddhist art during the 12th century. Compare to a similarly stylized dancing Vajravarahi, an example of which is in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology at the Oxford University (acc. No. EA2000.117). The intensity of Indian tantrism inspired many Tibetans from the eleventh century onward, see a Tibetan example in the Pala style sold at our New York rooms on 23 March 2022, lot 428.