A SILVER AND COPPER INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BHAISAJYAGURU

TIBET, PALA STYLE, CIRCA 12TH CENTURY

Footnotes

This rare and accomplished sculpture from the Nyingjei Lam Collection is unique among a highly prized group of early Tibetan bronzes believed to pay homage to the long-lost central image of the Mahabodhi temple, which marked the spot where Buddha achieved enlightenment in Northeastern India.

It was created during a time of prolific cultural exchange between Indian monasteries within the Pala kingdom and newly founded Tibetan Buddhist schools. Projects to translate entire libraries into Tibetan were adopted and Pala sculpture provided the prototypes from which much of early Tibetan art developed.

With its broad shoulders, three lines across the neck, tight-fitting robe, stepped base, and robust lotus petals, this svelte bronze adheres closely to the idioms of the Pala style. By contrast however, its face is decidedly more Tibetan. In fact, its elongated silver-inlaid eyes are exaggerated to the point of stereotype, suggestive of what Weldon & Casey Singer astutely articulate as a "Tibetan interpretation of the Indian face" (The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet, p.36).

Von Schroeder published three direct comparisons kept in the 'Red Palace' (Tib. Pho 'brang dmar po) and the Jokhang in Lhasa (Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol.1, Hong Kong, 2003, pp.266-7, nos.85B-F). Without the benefit of examining their faces, which were concealed under cold gold paint, he attributed them to Pala. One example (no.85C) is consecrated with a baseplate in the uniquely Tibetan manner. Meanwhile it is inscribed in Sanskrit, suggesting this occurred during Tibet's apprenticeship of Indian Buddhism between the 10th-12th centuries.

Von Schroeder also commented on this group's very rare and special feature, the distinctive cushion immediately under the figure. Each depicts a 'face of glory' (Skt. kirtimukha) at the center, seen in the present lot with inlaid copper eyes and silver teeth, and foliage intricately weaving around the back. As he mentioned in 1981, the cushion is popularly thought to imitate the original façade of the vajrasana ('diamond-throne') – the seat under the Bodhi tree upon which Shakyamuni determined to stay until he achieved enlightenment. Sanctified under a descendent of the Bodhi tree at the Mahabodhi temple, the vajrasana's original façade has not survived.

The present sculpture, as well as the aforementioned comparisons, derive immediate inspiration from Pala examples such as a bronze found at Fatephur, near the Mahabodhi temple, which is currently missing from Bodh Gaya Museum. Weldon & Casey Singer published it with another bronze held in the National Museum, New Delhi that also seems to have inspired a related group of Tibetan copies (ibid., pp.64&63, figs.31-2&28-9, respectively). They are thought to be replicas of a central image of the Buddha presiding over the Mahabodhi temple, and would have been sold to visitors to this premier site of pilgrimage in the medieval Buddhist world.

There are a number of other instances of cult images spawning copies throughout Buddhist Asia. Ian Alsop has discussed one, the Phakpa Lokeshvara in Lhasa, in his article published in, Orientations: Art of Tibet, Hong Kong, 1998, pp.81-91. Another is the Udayana Buddha, thought to be the very first image of Buddha, made during his lifetime by King Udayana of Kaushambi in Swat Valley. A true copy of the original sandalwood image travelled, by legend, to China by the 5th century, where it spawned many further copies to this day. Like the Udayana Buddha, the Mahabodhi Buddha is lost, thought to have been melted down by marauders during the Muslim invasions of the Pala territories at the turn of the 13th century. However its special charisma lives on, echoed in the present lot.

The handful of published Tibetan copies of the Mahabodhi Buddha that follow the New Delhi prototype more closely are found in the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection (Leidy, Treasures of Asian Art, New York, 1994, p.84, no.66), the Neiyingjei Lam Collection (The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet, p.62, figs.26&27), and the Palace Museum Collection in Beijing (Wang (ed.), Zangchuan Fojiao Zaoxiang, Hong Kong, 2008, p.68, no.66), and two were recently sold by Sungari International, Beijing, 23 November 2015, lot 1031, and China Guardian, Beijing, 15 May 2016, lot 3096.

Meanwhile, unlike the others, this bronze depicts the Medicine Buddha, identified by the leafy sprouts of the myrobalan plum grasped between the figure's copper-inlaid right thumb and ring finger. The Medicine Buddha is worshipped to overcome physical, mental, and spiritual sickness, and to purify karmic debt. Various dedicated sutras describe his origins differently: as an excelled bodhisattva, as a primordial Buddha, or as Shakyamuni who transformed into the Medicine Buddha in order to give the medicine teaching to an assembly of gods, sages, bodhisattvas, and arhats. This bronze is only one of its kind known to depict the Buddha of Healing.

Published
David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, p. 66, fig. 36.

Exhibited
Casting the Divine: Sculptures from Nyingjei Lam Collection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2 March 2012–11 February 2013.

Provenance
Nyingjei Lam Collection
On loan to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford,1996–2005
On loan to the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2005–2016


錯銀錯紅銅藥師佛銅像
西藏，帕拉風格，約十二世紀
喜馬拉雅藝術資源網2153號
高 14.8 釐米 （5 英寸）

2,400,000-3,800,000 港元

此尊精致亦罕見的造像來自菩薩道收藏，屬於一類備受推崇的以紀念失傳已久之摩訶菩提寺主像的西藏早期造像，佛陀之得道之地即為東北印度的摩訶菩提寺。

其創作於新創立的藏傳佛教宗派與帕拉王朝之印度寺院開展豐富文化交流的時期。彼時，致力將所有佛經譯成藏文之宏大計劃正如火如荼地開展，而帕拉王朝造像亦為早期西藏藝術提供了創作原型。

從其寬闊肩膀、三道頸紋線、修身長袍、階梯狀底座與碩大蓮瓣可看出，此尊造像風格與帕拉傳統殊為相似。然而開臉則明顯更具西藏風格。事實上，其低垂狹長的錯銀雙眼誇張到略顯刻板，不禁讓人想起 Weldon 和 Casey Singer 對於"西藏如何詮釋印度面相"一針見血的言辭（參見 The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet，頁 36）。

施羅德曾編著過三尊與之相似的作品，現藏於"紅宮"（藏語 Pho 'brang dmar po）與拉薩大昭寺（參見 西藏佛教造像，卷一，香港，2003 年，頁 266-267，85B-F 號）。在其開臉被泥金覆蓋的情形下，施羅德將此些造像斷代為帕拉時期作品。其中一尊（85C號）帶封底，屬西藏特有。但又刻有梵文，表明其創作於十至十二世紀西藏學習印度佛教期間。

施羅德還指出此些造像罕見而獨特的特點，即佛像身下特色鮮明的禪修坐墊。坐墊正中均飾以饕餮（梵語 kirtimukha，"榮耀之顏"），其在本拍品中更飾以銅眼銀牙，並在其余部分刻以精致繁復的花草紋。正如他在 1981 年所述，該坐墊普遍被認為是模仿"金剛座"（vajrasana）的原始外觀，即釋迦牟尼在菩提樹下決定坐禪至證道開悟之時所坐寶座。然而由於聖化金剛座之原始外觀並未流傳下來。

本拍品及前述可比造像的靈感源自帕拉王朝作品，比如一尊於費特普爾縣摩訶菩提寺旁邊發現、現已從菩提伽耶博物館遺失的造像。Weldon 和 Casey Singer 曾對其及藏於新德裡國家博物館的另一尊造像進行編著（出處同上，頁 63與64，圖 28-9 與 31-2），後者同樣也是相似西藏復刻品的靈感來源。人們認為此些作品復刻了摩訶菩提寺的佛陀主像，而原像已在中世紀佛教時期售於來此聖地之朝聖者。

還有許多其他造像也衍生出大量復刻件，並廣泛流傳於佛教盛行之亞洲地區。Ian Alsop 曾在其文章中討論過一尊相關的拉薩聖觀自在菩薩像，參見 Orientations: Art of Tibet，香港，1998 年，頁 81-91。另一個案例為優填王佛像，被視為史上第一尊佛陀造像，為斯瓦特河谷考莎比之優填王在世時修造。據傳說，該檀木造像的一尊原始復刻像曾在五世紀被帶到中國，並催生出大量衍生復刻作品，直至今日。與優填王佛像類似，摩訶菩提佛像也已遺失，普遍認為於十三世紀穆斯林入侵帕拉領土期間為侵略者所燒毀。然而，其非凡魅力仍流傳至今。

已經出版的以新德裡佛像為原型的西藏復刻摩訶菩提佛像為數不多，現存於約翰洛克菲勒三世收藏（參見 Leidy，Treasures of Asian Art，紐約，1994 年，頁 84，66 號）、菩提道收藏（參見 The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet，頁 62，圖 26 與 27）以及北京故宮博物院收藏（參見藏傳佛教造像，香港，2008 年，頁 68，66 號），另有兩尊造像於 2015 年 11 月 23 日和 2016 年 5 月 15 日在中貿聖佳和中國嘉德售出，分別為拍品 1031 號與拍品 3096 號。

與上述參照作品有所不同的是，此尊造像刻畫藥師佛，由其錯紅銅的右拇指與無名指之間所持訶梨勒果枝可知。藥師佛為眾生祛除身心及精神病魔，消除業障，廣受信徒膜拜。不同佛經對其來歷各執其詞：有的稱其為舉世無雙的菩薩，有的稱其為原生佛陀，還有的稱釋迦牟尼佛化身藥師佛，以為眾位神明、聖賢、菩薩和羅漢講授醫經。此尊造像為此類中唯一刻畫藥師佛的已知造像。

著錄
David Weldon 與 Jane Casey Singe，The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection，倫敦，1999 年，頁 66，圖 36。

展覽
Casting the Divine: Sculptures from Nyingjei Lam Collection，魯賓藝術博物館，紐約，2012 年 3 月 2 日 – 2013 年 2 月 11 日。

來源
菩薩道收藏
出借於阿什莫林博物館，牛津，1996–2005 年
出借於魯賓藝術博物館，紐約，2005–2016 年



SELECTED WORKS FROM THE NYINGJEI LAM COLLECTION

The Nyingjei Lam Collection was formed in the 1970s and 1980s by a passionate collector based in the Far East for almost fifty years. The quality of the collection is unparalleled in diversity and rarity of sculpture, spanning a millennium, and is considered one of the gold standards in the field of collecting Himalayan Art. "Nyingjei Lam" translates to "Paths of Compassion". Bonhams is honored to be presenting the select works, supporting the Nyingjei Lam Trust's mission of education and social projects in India and other regions around the globe.


菩薩道藏品精選

菩薩道收藏由一位在遠東生活的藏家於上世紀七八十年代成立，至今已快半個世紀。其造像收藏論類別之多元、價值之珍貴稀有，均無與倫比；同時造像年代橫跨千年，堪稱喜馬拉雅藝術收藏界之翹楚。"菩薩道" 由藏文翻譯而來，其羅馬拼音為"NYINGJEI LAM"。邦瀚斯很榮幸能向大家呈獻菩薩道精選藏品，以支持菩薩道信托基金在印度及全球其他地區推行之教育及社會項目。