A large gilt-bronze figure of Mahachakra Vajrapani, Central Tibet, 15th century

Benny Rustenburg, Hong Kong, 8th May 2006.

Mahachakra Vajrapani or Chag-dor Khor-chen (as he is known in the Tibetan language) is depicted subduing a snake, symbolizing his wrathful nature and his ability to transform negative emotions into positive virtues. The sculpture gives special emphasis to his yidam or meditational form, showing him consuming the snake's venom, a powerful image in the symbolic language of Tantric Buddhism. He also appears in union or yab-yum with his consort, the details of which are fully articulated on the underside of the sculpture.

This refined sculpture depicts Vajrapani in the form of a fully enlightened being that practitioners imagine in their mind’s eye during tantric meditation. Within the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, the Mahachakravajrapani Tantra holds significance, for which this sculpture may have been commissioned, the teachings around this deity are known to have been passed down to the founder of the tradition, Je Tsongkhapa Lobzang Drakpa (1357-1419), by his teacher Dondrub Rinchen (1309-1385). Nevertheless, there is more than one lineage related to this teaching transmission, one of which goes back to the Indian mahasiddha Shavaripa and the 11th-century Tibetan translator Chokyi Gyaltsen. 

The anonymous sculptor of the present figure skillfully captured the intense and potent imagery of Mahachakra Vajrapani, portraying him with robust limbs and a commanding pose. The hands are particularly strong, with Vajrapani's right hand in the abhayamudra or ‘fear-dispelling gesture’, held assertively by his consort's side. The artist adorns Mahachakra-Vajrapani with intricate beaded swags and snakes with captivating gazes peeking out between his legs.  

The present sculpture is closely comparable to a 15th-century figure of the same deity in Gems of Beijing Cultural Relics Series, Beijing, 2000, p. 148. Also see a smaller example (at 8½ inches high including its base) sold at Bonhams Paris, 12th June 2023, lot 25 and an 8-inch-high example (also including its base) sold at Christie’s Paris, 16th December 2022, lot 173.

本像刻劃大輪金剛手菩薩降伏毒蛇，呈忿怒相，並代表其將負面情緒轉化為正面美德。本像突出大輪金剛手本尊吞食蛇毒之形像，此乃密宗重要造型，而菩薩與明妃合抱，細節可見於底部。本像鑄工精細，刻劃大輪金剛手得道後之形象，修行者冥想時以此為想像。《金剛手大輪密法》於藏傳佛教格魯派傳統中甚爲重要，本像或為此而製。敦珠仁千上師（1309-85年）將此法傳予宗喀巴（1357-1419年）。然而，此修法傳承不僅一脈，其一可追溯至印度大成就者夏瓦利巴及十一世紀西藏譯師確吉堅贊。

此像與《北京文物精華大系》所載一尊十五世紀作例非常相近，北京，2000 年，頁148。另比一例，尺寸較小，2023 年6 月 12 日售於巴黎邦瀚斯，編號25，尚有一例，2022 年12 月16 日售於巴黎佳士得，編號173。