佛像鉴定鉴赏收藏

尺寸：高18cm
年代：13-14世纪
质地：合金铜嵌银
风格：西藏
来源：拍卖会
成交：937,500港元(2016.11)
参阅：香港邦瀚斯
鉴赏：
A SILVER AND COPPER INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF VAJRAPANI
TIBET, 13TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.2127
18 cm (7 in.) high

This eccentric sculpture of the protector deity Vajrapani exhibits the life and vigor of early Tibetan art. His fierce qualities are exaggerated with a spirited naiveté, conveying his ability to subdue any harmful phenomena that would threaten the dharma and its practitioners.

His three eyes are spread disproportionately apart, lending him an otherworldly appearance. Bulging with silver globules encircled by copper rims, the treatment of his eyes suggests the pure light of his consciousness is harnessed with such intensity that their edges are bloodshot under the strain. The wrinkles of his furrowed brow form thick bands above the bridge of his nose, while he snarls revealing glistening silver-inlaid fangs.

Rarely seen, the caster also employs copper inlay to delineate the tail of the snake that wraps around its own body to hang over Vajrapani's large, yaksha-like belly. Again, it distinguishes the entwined lengths of two more, worn like a crown above his head. Unlike the others adorning his legs and arms, these three snakes appear crowned with small diadems, a nod to the serpent kings (nagarajas) of ancient Indic lore.

Unlike most depictions of Vajrapani, these snakes, the animal skins wrapped around his chest and haunches, and the prominent vajra climaxing from his chignon towards the heavens, are the deity's only adornments; he is not encumbered by the typical crowns and jeweled trappings that blend connotations of worldly power and wealth with spiritual authority. In this manner, the sculpture breaks from the legacies of Indian art and suggests a date shortly after the period of Tibet's great apprenticeship of Indian Buddhism (10th-12th centuries). It indicates the work of a bronze caster who is not simply copying a prototype, but engaging freshly with the teachings and the spirit of the deity (or prompted by someone who is) and interpreting them visually in a creative and spontaneous way.

Published
David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, pp.57-9, fig.23. Franco Ricca, Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell'Himalaya, Turin, 2004, no.36.

Exhibited
The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 6 October–30 December 1999. Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell'Himalaya, Turin, Palazzo Bricherasio, 18 June–19 September 2004. 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

錯銀錯紅銅金剛手菩薩銅像
西藏，十三世紀
古比特佛像网, 编号: 金刚手菩萨:金刚手菩萨100
高 18 釐米 （7 英寸）

此尊金剛手菩薩造像姿態生動，充分展現出早期西藏藝術之生命力。其凌厲忿怒的無邪之態更令觀者望而生畏，傳達其能為業力及修行者除魔滅障之威勢。

其三眼間距大於常人，賦予其超脫凡俗的外觀。錯銅眼周襯托凸顯錯銀眼瞳，刻畫出強大法力所至之怒目賁張之態。眉頭緊鎖，於鼻梁之上形成深刻溝紋；咆哮怒吼，露出閃亮錯銀獠牙。

罕見的是，此造像還以錯銅工藝描繪金剛手菩薩夜叉般圓垂大腹上所纏繞蛇飾的尾部。其頭部亦有另兩蛇相互纏繞，好似寶冠。與腿部和臂部的其他蛇飾不同，此三蛇頭戴小王冠，向古印度傳說中的那伽蛇王致意。

不同於大多數金剛手菩薩的造像，除此些蛇飾、纏繞其胸部和腰部的獸皮以及從發髻指向諸天的醒目金剛杵之外，此尊金剛手菩薩別無他飾；他既無頭戴常見寶冠，亦無身披瓔珞華服，兩者常用於表現世俗權力財富與精神權威之融合。這種風格表明，此尊造像突破了印度藝術傳統，體現出在西藏大力學習印度造像時期（十世紀到十二世紀）之後的時代特征。此件作品獨具匠心，其創作並非單純復刻原型，而嘗試納入佛教教義和精神（或為他人所敦促），並以創新而直率的方式呈現闡釋。

著錄
David Weldon 與 Jane Casey Singer，The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection，倫敦，1999 年，頁 57-59，圖 23。
Franco Ricca，Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell'Himalaya，都靈，2004 年，36 號。

展覽
The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet，阿什莫林博物館，牛津，1999 年 10 月 6 日 – 12 月 30 日。
Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell'Himalaya，都靈，Palazzo Bricherasio，2004 年 6 月 18 日 – 9 月 19 日。
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