A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF YAMANTAKA AND VAJRAVETALI QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY |

cast in the form of the yidam and consort standing in alidhasana on trampled figures, birds and bovine animals, all atop a lotus base with a beaded upper edge, the buffalo-headed yidam portrayed ferocious with bulging eyes and a gaping mouth, surmounted by flaming hair, with thirty-two outstretched arms and a pair wrapped around the consort, holding in some of his hands implements and ritual weapons, further depicted adorned with a garland of severed skulls, the consort rendered in ecstatic union with the yidam and holding a kapala filled with amrita in the raised left hand and a kartrika in the right

As typical of complex Tantric bronzes, some of the implements in the hands are missing. There is oxidisation to the surface, especially to the underside of the base. There are tiny chips to the fragile extremities, including the tips of the hair. Other general surface wear.
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The complex and powerfully modelled sculpture depicts Yamantaka Vajrabhairava, the wrathful manifestation of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Discriminating Wisdom, together with his consort Vajravetali in ecstatic union. The large and ferocious buffalo head of Vajrabhairava with towering, fiery tresses coiled into thick ropes dominate the sculpture and commands the focal point, as it is the same size as the torso and legs. Six fierce human faces wrap around the back of the buffalo head, and are surmounted by a further fierce human face and the head of wrathful Manjushri.   Vajrabhairava, or Adamantine Anger, the destroyer of ignorance and fear of death, is one of the principal yidams of the Geluk sect, the Tibetan Buddhist order founded by Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) that was later favoured at the Qing court. The Geluk sect enjoyed increased importance amongst the emperors of the Ming dynasty. From the mid-17th century on, The Geluk lineage were the dominant theocratic power in Tibet through the Dalai Lama, and the sole represented Tibetan Buddhist lineage within China.

Tsongkhapa, as well as the Manchu emperors, were additionally considered manifestations of the bodhisattva Manjushri, explaining in part the popularity of Vajrabhairava within China. The Qing emperors maintained direct links with the Dalai and Panchen Lamas and propagated the Geluk lineage of Buddhism within China, sponsoring the construction of numerous monasteries and temples around the capital of Beijing. Vajrabhairava, the all-powerful manifestation of Manjushri, was thereby symbolic of the ultimate imperial authority. This awe-inspiring statue serves to enforce the imperial mandate while representing the highest ideals of the spiritual path to Buddhist enlightenment.

Another figure of similar size, iconography and workmanship is illustrated by Hung Shih Chang and Jessica P.P. Hsu, eds. Buddhist Art from Rehol: Tibetan Buddhist images and ritual objects from the Qing dynasty Summer Palace at Chengde, Taipei, 1999, p. 122, pl. 46. See also a closely related gilt-bronze figure of Yamantaka and Vajravetali, sold at Christie's New York, 15th-16th March 2015, lot 3214.