STATUE DE BHAIRAVA EN ARGILE POLYCHROME

Tibet occidental, XIVe/XVe siècle

Footnotes

藏西 十四/十五世紀 彩繪泥塑陪臚像

Provenance:
Shirley Day Ltd., London, 12 December 1986.
Collection of Elizabeth and Willard Clark.
Bonhams New York, 19 March 2018, lot 3087.
Property of a European Gentleman.

來源
Shirley Day Ltd.，倫敦，1986年12月12日
Elizabeth與Willard Clark夫婦收藏
紐約邦翰斯，2018年3月19日，編號3087
歐洲紳士藏品

Of extraordinary size, this prone figure was modeled to appear trampled under the foot of a monumental figure of Chakrasamvara. Bhairava's head is bent backward and turned to the right to accentuate his being squashed before the shrine's audience. His legs are animated, suggesting his struggle to escape the weight of Chakrasamvara pressing down on his back and head. The complete shrine would show Chakrasamvara standing on the Hindu divine couple Shiva and Parvati. Kalaratri would have been under his other foot, representing nirvana, while Bhairava here represents samsara.

Typical of the clay sculpture of Western Tibet, the figure is painted with vibrant colors. Compare a figure of Yamantaka photographed in 1948 (Govinda, Tibet in Pictures, Berkeley, 1979, p.183). Also compare the simple thick-banded gold jewellery and small mouth of the bronze figures in the King's Chapel murals of Guge published in Laird, Murals of Tibet, Taschen, 2018, and the now badly damaged Tsaparang Hayagriva, published in Tucci, Temples of Western Tibet, New Delhi, 1989, p. LXVIII, no. 68.