TIBETO-CHINESE, 18TH CENTURY

Details

A gilt bronze figure of Vaishravana
Tibeto-Chinese, 18th century
Seated on a lion over a lotus base, his right hand in vitarkamudra and his left holding a mongoose, dressed in scale armor secured above his rotund stomach with a sash, the face with bulging eyes and bushy brows surmounted by a foliate tiara
7 1/8 in. (17.8 cm.) high

Provenance

Collection of Mary Trumbull Adams, New York City, by the 1930s

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Lot Essay

Vaishravana is the most commonly depicted of the Four Guardian Kings; he is considered the leader of the yakshas and swore an oath of protection in front of Shakyamuni. He is also considered to be a wealth deity and as such borrows some of the attributes from the Hindu god, Kubera, including the jewel-spewing mongoose and the rotund belly, a common symbol of fecundity across multiple civilizations.

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