Lot 135
135
A Large and Important Gilt Bronze Figure of Chakrasamvara
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTION
A Large and Important Gilt Bronze Figure of Chakrasamvara

TIBET, CIRCA 1700

Details
A Large and Important Gilt Bronze Figure of Chakrasamvara
Tibet, circa 1700
The twelve-armed deity standing in alidhasana with his arms radiating around him, his principal hands holding the vajra and bell, wearing a short dhoti and a girdle with pendant jewels, armlets richly inlaid with turquoise, his three heads with animated expressions surmounted by a silver skull tiara, richly gilt overall
27½ in. (69.9 cm.) high
Literature
Spink and Son, Light of Compassion, Buddhist Art from Nepal and Tibet, 1997, cat. no. 19.
Exhibition catalogue, Monasterios y lamas del Tibet, Madrid, Fundación "La Caixa", 2000, p. 111, cat. no. 2.
J. Huntington and D. Bangdel, The Circle of Bliss, Buddhist Meditational Art, 2003, pp. 236-38, ill. p. 237 and cover.
Exhibited
London, Spink and Son, Ltd., Light of Compassion, Buddhist Art from Nepal and Tibet, September - October 1997, cat. no. 19.
Madrid, Fundación "La Caixa", Monasterios y lamas del Tibet, cat. no. 2, November 2000 - January 2001.
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Columbus, Columbus Museum of Art, The Circle of Bliss, Buddhist Meditational Art, cat. no. 65, October 2003 - May 2004.

Lot Essay

This impressive and very finely executed bronze was previously attributed as 17th century Tibetan work. More recently, J. Huntington and D. Bangdel have ascribed it to the school of the Mongolian master metalworker Zanabazar (ca. 1635-1723), see The Circle of Bliss, p. 236. While certain aspects show Mongolian influence, such as the facial features, the combination of silver elements in the headdress and the style of earrings, it is less evident in the highly detailed and crisp treatment of the jewelry.
Various ornaments, including the skull elements of the headdress and pendent ornaments of his girdle, are attached with metal studs or rivets. The elephant skin which Chakrasamvara invariably holds spanning across his back is here indicated by just two truncated legs. It is also very unusual to find a depiction of Chakrasamvara without his consort.

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