A large gilt-bronze figure of Yama Dharmaraja, Qing dynasty, 17th / 18th century | 清十七 / 十八世紀 銅鎏金嵌寶閻摩法王立像

English Private Collection.

英國私人收藏

Yama Dharmaraja is a Tantric Buddhist wisdom deity, protector of the Anuttaryoga Tantra specifically used by those engaged in the practices of the Vajrabhairava Tantra. As one of the three principle religious protectors of the Gelukpa tradition, Yama Dharmaraja was held in high esteem at the Qing court, resulting in the production of large, high-quality gilded images such as the current example, which is intricately cast and embellished with beaded jewelry.

For a Qianlong reign-marked parcel-gilt figure of Yama Dharmaraja from the Qing Court Collection, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Buddhist Statues of Tibet, Hong Kong, 2003, pl. 205. See also two smaller gilt-bronze examples, one from the Folker Collection, illustrated in Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, pl. 157E, and the other sold in these rooms, 16th March 2016, lot 744.