Vajrabhairava Copper with painted details Tibeto-Chinese

The large and imposing figure of the ithyphallic Vajrabhairava with sixteen legs stepping to his right in pratyalidha, thirty-four arms arranged in a fan about his corpulent frame and holding a panoply of ritual implements and tantric weapons, his principle hands before him holding the kartrika and a now missing kapala, wearing dharmapala jewelry and garlands of snakes and severed heads, the Yidam with a snarling bull's head with azurite-blue horns surrounded by seven ferocious faces with the benign head of Manjushri emerging from flame-red hair above.

Galerie Koller Zürich, 1984

In good condition overall. Many of the ritual implements now secured in the hands with yellow silk thread, with some implements missing including the Kapala from the principal left hand. Losses to the paint on the faces particularly to the muzzle of the bulls head; a separately cast flame now missing from the left nostril. Two flaming jewels above the skulls of the brow now bent but still attached; one at front and one at back. A consecration plate at the back of the flaming hair. The flayed elephant skin separately cast and attached at back. The ushvisha missing from the head of Manjushri above and his crown slightly bent. The bronze with a fine and lustrous patina. No restoration. The pedestal lost.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

A similar copper statue of Vajrabhairava in the Palace Museum, Beijing, reflects the Qing court taste for images made in homage to the Indian statues of the Pala period, see The Palace Museum, Cultural Relics of Tibetan Buddhism Collected in the Qing Palace, Beijing, 1992, p. 95, pl. 66, cf. the broad features of the ferocious head above in the flaming hair, and the pendants of the bone jewelry on the belly and legs. Indian images were held in such high regard - as tangible links to the motherland of Buddhism - that they were avidly collected by the court, and their style respectfully recreated. The vast majority of Pala bronzes are simple un-gilded sculptures relying on line and form for expression. Hence the Vajrabhairava is left un-gilded in homage to the Indian taste, rather against the overall trend of the eighteenth century towards gilt bronzes. Many of the temples in the Forbidden City, Beijing, house un-gilded statues in the Pala revival style such as the present Vajrabhairava, including The Hall of Buddhism and The Pavilion of Raining Flowers, see ibid, pp. 136-7, pp. 146-7, p. 150. In all cases the sculptures are copper with just the heads painted in iconographic colors. A number of large-scale un-gilded copper statues in the style of the present example are also housed in the Qing dynasty Summer Palace, Rehol, including a similar Vajrabhairava, a six-armed Mahakala and a Mahakala with prajna, see eds. Hung Shih Chang and Jessica P. P. Hsu, Buddhist Art from Rehol: Tibetan Buddhist images and ritual objects from the Qing dynasty Summer Palace at Chengde, Taipei, 1999, p. 107, fig. 35, p. 112, fig. 40, p. pp. 134-5, fig. 42.

The complex and powerfully modelled sculpture depicts the wrathful manifestation of Manjushri, the Lord of Wisdom. Vajrabhairava, Adamantine Anger, the destroyer of ignorance and fear of death, is one of the principal Yidams of the Gelugpa sect, the Tibetan Buddhist order that was favored at the Qing court.