TIBETO-CHINESE, 18TH CENTURY

Vajrabhairava, one of the principal meditational deities of Tibetan Buddhism, is the terrifying form of Manjushri, the God of Wisdom. Like Yamantaka, he is a destroyer of death itself. His depictions vary from the highly complex with multiple heads and arms to the very concise with a single face and two arms. The present work shows him in embrace with Vajra Vetali, symbolizing the dualistic totality encompassing compassion (embodied by the male) and wisdom (associated with the female).
The cultural and artistic transmission between Tibet and the Qing court in seventeenth and eighteenth centuries meant that a number of older, non-gilt bronze images were gifted by Tibetan monasteries to Qing Buddhist institutions in Beijing and its environs. The passion for archaism (the production of new works in a consciously archaic style) in the court of the Qianlong emperor resulted in a multitude of bronze images cast without gilding in imitation of older bronzes. The present work, with a distinctly worn patina, was likely cast in emulation of an older image, and its patina was possibly induced to appear older. Such artistic decisions highlight the appreciation for art and antiques in China in the eighteenth century.