AN INSCRIBED GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRAPANI AND A STAND QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD | 清乾隆 鎏金銅金剛手菩薩立像及座 《大清乾隆年敬造》、《降臨嶽母》銘款

Spink & Son Ltd, London.

Spink & Son Ltd，倫敦

The present finely cast bronze figure of Vajrapani, 'the Holder of the Vajra', belongs to a well-known group of Tibetan Buddhist sculptures made on the orders of the Qianlong Emperor for the Liupinfo Lou [Six-Class Buddhist Pavilion], a project comprising the construction of eight temples in the Forbidden City, Chengde Resort and Summer Palace, with only the Fanhua Lou [Pavilion of Buddhist Glory] in the Forbidden City remaining now.

Vajrapani is the bodhisattva who represents the power of all the Buddhas and to many devout Buddhists he came to symbolise the removal of obstacles and the conquest of negativity through fierce determination as seen in the vajra that would have originally been held in his raised right hand.

Compare a related Qianlong mark and period figure of Vajrapani, with an inscription on the base indicating the identity of the deity, sold in our Paris rooms, 9th June 2011, lot 226. The inscription on the current stand refers to the Mahamayuri, as found on an example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Fanhua Lou, Beijijng, 2009, pl. 303. The figure and stand appear to have been matched at some stage. See also a Qianlong mark and period figure of Vajradhara with no inscribed identification of the deity, illustrated in Cultural Relics of Tibetan Buddhism Collected in the Qing Palace, Hong Kong, 1992, pl. 73.

Two related figures belonging to this group of Buddhist sculptures were sold at Christie's Paris, 8th June 2010, lots 312 and 313, and a larger bronze figure of Trailokyavijayavajra with a seven-character Qianlong mark is illustrated in the catalogue of the exhibition Splendors of China's Forbidden City: the Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong, Dallas Museum, 2004-2005, ill. 172.