TIBETO-CHINESE, 17TH-18TH CENTURY

Representing the four-armed form of Vajra Nairatmya, the 'Selfless One,' partner to Hevajra, the present image displays several characteristics of early Qing Buddhist art created in the Kangxi period (1661-1722): the overall casting is thicker and heavier than in later Qianlong period (1736-1795) examples, with rich gilding overall. The lotus base has a distinctive ruyi-form incised motif across a small section of the back, in contrast to Qianlong examples which are more elongated. The skulls of the garland are somewhat stylized as roundels with large eye holes picked out in red pigment. Compare the heavy casting of the present work with that of a gilt-bronze figure of a dancing dakini, identified as eighteenth century but likely cast in the Kangxi period, in the Qing Palace collection at Chengde, illustrated in Buddhist Art from Rehol: Tibetan Buddhist Images and Ritual Objects from the Qing Dynasty Summer Palace at Chengde, Taipei, 1998, p. 139, cat. no. 55.