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Lot Essay
This exceptional gilt copper alloy sculpture represents one of the highest expressions of artistic and spiritual synthesis in 15th-century Tibetan art. It portrays Akshobhyavajra Guhyasamaja, the unified form of the male deity Akshobhya and his consort Adhiprajna, joined in yab-yum to embody the transcendental union of compassion and wisdom.
The complex iconography is rendered with remarkable precision: Akshobhyavajra has three faces and six arms. His original hands, crossed in vajrahumkara mudra, hold a vajra and ghanta, symbols of method and wisdom, while simultaneously embracing his consort. His remaining hands hold a chakra (wheel), mani (flaming jewel), padma (lotus), and prajna-khadga (sword of wisdom). Adhiprajna mirrors this divine symmetry with her own three faces and six arms, also holding the same attributes in complementary arrangement. The divine couple sits atop a luxurious double-lotus pedestal supporting a complex visual composition that integrates the iconographic principles of the Five Tathagathas.
The high quality and distinct iconographic vocabulary of this work allow it to be confidently attributed to the atelier of Sonam Gyaltsen, one of the foremost Tibetan sculptors active in the Shigatse region of Central Tibet during the second quarter of the 15th century. His workshop flourished under the patronage of the Sakya order and members of the Rinpungpa dynasty (1435–1565), during a period marked by intense religious and artistic production.
The attribution is reinforced by comparisons to a documented gilt bronze Avalokiteshvara Sahasrabhuja Ekadasamukha (Bonhams, New York, 19 March 2018, lot 3033), inscribed with the names of the artist, patrons, monastery, and overseeing Sakya hierarch. This sculpture, known as the “Jamchen Avalokiteshvara,” was conclusively dated to c. 1425–30 and linked to Jamchen Monastery in the Shigatse region. Scholarly research by Jeff Watt has shown that the present Guhyasamaja shares defining stylistic and technical features with this benchmark work, supporting the attribution to Sonam Gyaltsen or his atelier.
The attribution to Sonam Gyaltsen is further supported by a close comparison with the documented Jamchen Avalokiteshvara, particularly in the treatment of ornamentation and structural detail. The crown of the present figure sits just above the hairline, its five leaves inlaid with turquoise in a style consistent with known works from the atelier. The jewellery displays striking similarities as well, many elements follow a distinct design vocabulary, such as three-petal lotus motifs centring small turquoise settings framed by five-lobed leaves, or pendants formed as lotus buds blooming into turquoise-set flowers. Particularly distinctive is the style of the lotus base, whose bold, deeply scalloped petals correspond closely to those found on a fifteenth-century gilt bronze Sarasvati in the Rietberg Museum, Zurich (Uhlig, 1995, no. 102, p. 157), and a comparable Tara in the same collection (ibid., no. 105). Although diverging from the petal form appears on other major bronzes attributed to Sonam Gyaltsen, including yab-yum images of Vajrabhairava and Manjuvajra Guhyasamaja in Zurich, as well as a Guhyasamaja in the Capital Museum, Beijing (HAR 59837), the primary features follow the corpus of works now associated with this distinguished atelier.
Most strikingly, the style of the lotus base, of broad, bold, and deeply scalloped petals, shows clear affinity with lotus designs found on the contemporaneous wall murals at Gyantse (see Laird, Murals of Tibet, 2018, p. 354)
This figure was likely created for a major monastic institution in Central Tibet during the flourishing artistic renaissance of the 15th century. Whether commissioned by the Sakya, longtime patrons of Sonam Gyaltsen, or by the rising Gelug school, who especially revered Akshobhyavajra Guhyasamaja as a central meditational deity, this sculpture belongs to a seminal moment in Tibetan Buddhist visual culture.
In both conception and execution, this sculpture demonstrates a masterful integration of formal complexity, iconographic clarity, and spiritual potency. Yet beyond its symbolic and ritual significance, the exceptional condition and preservation of the richly gilded surface set this work apart. The brilliance of the gold, intact across nearly all surfaces, enhances every sculpted element, from the fine facial modelling and jewellery to the elaborate armature of attributes, and offers rare insight into the original visual power of such images when they were first installed on temple altars.
Ultimately, this rare and opulent depiction of Akshobhyavajra Guhyasamaja stands as a crowning achievement of Sonam Gyaltsen’s atelier and a pinnacle of Tibetan metal sculpture in the 15th century. Its exceptional condition, luminous gilding, and impeccable craftsmanship make it not only a superb object of devotional practice but also a significant historical artifact from the golden age of Tibetan Buddhist art.
The complex iconography is rendered with remarkable precision: Akshobhyavajra has three faces and six arms. His original hands, crossed in vajrahumkara mudra, hold a vajra and ghanta, symbols of method and wisdom, while simultaneously embracing his consort. His remaining hands hold a chakra (wheel), mani (flaming jewel), padma (lotus), and prajna-khadga (sword of wisdom). Adhiprajna mirrors this divine symmetry with her own three faces and six arms, also holding the same attributes in complementary arrangement. The divine couple sits atop a luxurious double-lotus pedestal supporting a complex visual composition that integrates the iconographic principles of the Five Tathagathas.
The high quality and distinct iconographic vocabulary of this work allow it to be confidently attributed to the atelier of Sonam Gyaltsen, one of the foremost Tibetan sculptors active in the Shigatse region of Central Tibet during the second quarter of the 15th century. His workshop flourished under the patronage of the Sakya order and members of the Rinpungpa dynasty (1435–1565), during a period marked by intense religious and artistic production.
The attribution is reinforced by comparisons to a documented gilt bronze Avalokiteshvara Sahasrabhuja Ekadasamukha (Bonhams, New York, 19 March 2018, lot 3033), inscribed with the names of the artist, patrons, monastery, and overseeing Sakya hierarch. This sculpture, known as the “Jamchen Avalokiteshvara,” was conclusively dated to c. 1425–30 and linked to Jamchen Monastery in the Shigatse region. Scholarly research by Jeff Watt has shown that the present Guhyasamaja shares defining stylistic and technical features with this benchmark work, supporting the attribution to Sonam Gyaltsen or his atelier.
The attribution to Sonam Gyaltsen is further supported by a close comparison with the documented Jamchen Avalokiteshvara, particularly in the treatment of ornamentation and structural detail. The crown of the present figure sits just above the hairline, its five leaves inlaid with turquoise in a style consistent with known works from the atelier. The jewellery displays striking similarities as well, many elements follow a distinct design vocabulary, such as three-petal lotus motifs centring small turquoise settings framed by five-lobed leaves, or pendants formed as lotus buds blooming into turquoise-set flowers. Particularly distinctive is the style of the lotus base, whose bold, deeply scalloped petals correspond closely to those found on a fifteenth-century gilt bronze Sarasvati in the Rietberg Museum, Zurich (Uhlig, 1995, no. 102, p. 157), and a comparable Tara in the same collection (ibid., no. 105). Although diverging from the petal form appears on other major bronzes attributed to Sonam Gyaltsen, including yab-yum images of Vajrabhairava and Manjuvajra Guhyasamaja in Zurich, as well as a Guhyasamaja in the Capital Museum, Beijing (HAR 59837), the primary features follow the corpus of works now associated with this distinguished atelier.
Most strikingly, the style of the lotus base, of broad, bold, and deeply scalloped petals, shows clear affinity with lotus designs found on the contemporaneous wall murals at Gyantse (see Laird, Murals of Tibet, 2018, p. 354)
This figure was likely created for a major monastic institution in Central Tibet during the flourishing artistic renaissance of the 15th century. Whether commissioned by the Sakya, longtime patrons of Sonam Gyaltsen, or by the rising Gelug school, who especially revered Akshobhyavajra Guhyasamaja as a central meditational deity, this sculpture belongs to a seminal moment in Tibetan Buddhist visual culture.
In both conception and execution, this sculpture demonstrates a masterful integration of formal complexity, iconographic clarity, and spiritual potency. Yet beyond its symbolic and ritual significance, the exceptional condition and preservation of the richly gilded surface set this work apart. The brilliance of the gold, intact across nearly all surfaces, enhances every sculpted element, from the fine facial modelling and jewellery to the elaborate armature of attributes, and offers rare insight into the original visual power of such images when they were first installed on temple altars.
Ultimately, this rare and opulent depiction of Akshobhyavajra Guhyasamaja stands as a crowning achievement of Sonam Gyaltsen’s atelier and a pinnacle of Tibetan metal sculpture in the 15th century. Its exceptional condition, luminous gilding, and impeccable craftsmanship make it not only a superb object of devotional practice but also a significant historical artifact from the golden age of Tibetan Buddhist art.