TIBET OR NORTHEAST INDIA, PALA PERIOD, 11TH/12TH CENTURY

Details

A Rare Yellow Silt Stone Figure of Vajravidarna
Tibet or Northeast India, Pala Period, 11th/12th Century
Very finely carved seated in dhyanasana on a raised plinth flanked at the base by two flowerheads, holding a double-vajra in front of his chest and the ghanta in his lowered left hand, wearing a diaphanous dhoti and elaborate floret armlets, necklaces, and earrings, his headdress with effigies of the directional Buddhas, his face gently tipped to his left in a serene expression, carved in the round with an openwork round throneback, remains of polychrome, incised underneath the base with a visvavajra and inscribed 'image' in Tibetan
4¾ in. (11.8 cm.) high

Special notice

This lot is offered subject to a reserve, which is the confidential minimum price below which the lot will not be sold.

Lot Essay

This figure is exquisitely carved from a rare yellow phyllite stone possibly originating from Yunnan, southwest China, of dense textureless quality allowing for intricate detail. Few other Pala period sculptures carved from this highly prized stone exist and they are generally of small size (less than 5 in. high) and intended as votive or meditational images. Of mature Pala period style, the regional attribution is often debated, but a number of the published examples bear Tibetan inscriptions or incorporate distinct Tibetan elements such as a lama portrait, while there is practically no archeological evidence in India itself; cf. a Tara stele in the Herbert an Florence Irving Collection, see M. Rhie and R. Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion, 1996, cat. no. 22; S. Huntington and J. Huntington, Leaves from the Bodhi Tree: The Art of Pala India (8th-12th centuries) and Its International Legacy, 1990, cat. nos. 127-130, and pp. 359-60 for a discussion.

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