Mark Rasmussen
International Director
Lot 20
A gilt copper alloy figure of Saravid Vairochana Qing dynasty, 18th century
18 September 2013, 10:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$20,000 inc. premium
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A gilt copper alloy figure of Saravid Vairochana
Qing dynasty, 18th century
Seated in padmasana above a lotus throne wearing a dhoti with patterned hems, his hands resting in dhyana mudra, his neck, chest, and arms richly adorned, the shoulders covered by an undulating scarf and swirling tresses, his four heads with serene expressions, painted eyes and lips, large earrings and five-leafed crowns, his hair covered in blue pigment and arranged in a two-tiered chignon surmounted by a flaming jewel (cintamani).
7 in. (17.8 cm) high
Seated in padmasana above a lotus throne wearing a dhoti with patterned hems, his hands resting in dhyana mudra, his neck, chest, and arms richly adorned, the shoulders covered by an undulating scarf and swirling tresses, his four heads with serene expressions, painted eyes and lips, large earrings and five-leafed crowns, his hair covered in blue pigment and arranged in a two-tiered chignon surmounted by a flaming jewel (cintamani).
7 in. (17.8 cm) high
Footnotes
Saravid Maha Vairochana is the patriarch of all the families of Great Vairochana. A statue of the root deity is installed at the center of the famed Tabo monastery complex in Spiti Valley (see Klimburg-Salter (ed.), Tabo, a Lamp for the Kingdom, Milan, 1997, fig. 61, p. 97). There 'the Omnipresent One' sits at the center of a 37-deity mandala from which everything stems, spreading out from his germinal refulgence until finally becoming dim. For more examples in gilt copper alloy, see the Huntington Archive no. 0000066 & HAR#71851.
Pieces of similar style and period were sold at Bonhams, New York, 18 March 2013, lot 159, at Christie's, South Kensington, 7 November 2012, lot 706, and at Sotheby's, London, 9 October 1967, lot 102. Also compare to a bronze published in von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, no. 153b.