.jpg?w=1)
拍品專文
Donning a five-tathagata crown and seated in vajrasana, the present figure is ornamented with simple earrings, a pendant necklace, and dhoti decorated in a modest textile pattern. As both Vajradharma Lokeshvara and Raktalokeshvara are described in the Sadhanamala, a Sanskrit compilation of meditation texts, with the same appearance opening a lotus flower, it is not possible to determine which figure the artist intended to represent.
The peacock vehicle (an indicator of his buddha family association) which distinguishes Vajradharma from Raktalokeshvara within the Sadhanamala is not a reliable indicator of the deity’s identity, as the peacock vehicle is omitted in more than one context. The present work was likely created in Western Tibet at the height of Kashmiri influence in the region; the period of the second dissemination known as the Tibetan Renaissance (circa 950-1200 CE) when monastic culture reached its apogee and with that, artistic patronage.
The style of depiction, with voluminous ribbons amplifying tight waists, pronounced bellies, and tubular limbs, closely resembles murals in caves such as those at Ropa and Tsaparang, surrounding the Sutlej River which was once the heart of the Western Tibetan Kingdom of Guge. This sculpture closely resembles a clay sculpture in Ropa’s Translator’s Temple, illustrated in photographs from The Western Himalaya Archive Vienna. For a nearly identical bronze figure of Raktalokeshvara attributed to the tenth or eleventh century, see figure a.
Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org), item no. 24488.
The peacock vehicle (an indicator of his buddha family association) which distinguishes Vajradharma from Raktalokeshvara within the Sadhanamala is not a reliable indicator of the deity’s identity, as the peacock vehicle is omitted in more than one context. The present work was likely created in Western Tibet at the height of Kashmiri influence in the region; the period of the second dissemination known as the Tibetan Renaissance (circa 950-1200 CE) when monastic culture reached its apogee and with that, artistic patronage.
The style of depiction, with voluminous ribbons amplifying tight waists, pronounced bellies, and tubular limbs, closely resembles murals in caves such as those at Ropa and Tsaparang, surrounding the Sutlej River which was once the heart of the Western Tibetan Kingdom of Guge. This sculpture closely resembles a clay sculpture in Ropa’s Translator’s Temple, illustrated in photographs from The Western Himalaya Archive Vienna. For a nearly identical bronze figure of Raktalokeshvara attributed to the tenth or eleventh century, see figure a.
Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org), item no. 24488.