A BRONZE 'VAJRADAKA' INCENSE BURNER COVER, 16TH CENTURY | 十六世紀 藏傳金剛勇父像銅爐頂

This figure is usually the upper part of the cover to an incense burner as this meditational deity is often related to fire rituals for purification. 

A complete figure of Vajradaka from the Shelley and Donald Rubin collection is in the Rubin Museum of Art, accession no.P2001.25.4. It is discussed by Jeff Watts on Himalayanart.org, "this is a ritual piece used while performing one of several specific meditations involving purification. At a certain point in the meditation black sesame seeds are inserted into the mouth of the Vajradaka sculpture which then fall through the body and onto an incense pot filled with burning embers or coals. The seeds are burnt and the smoke rises upwards and dissipates just as the defilements or sins of the practitioner are destoyed through the power of the ritual".