佛像鉴定鉴赏收藏

尺寸：高10.5cm
年代：11世纪
质地：合金铜嵌银
风格：印度 喜马偕尔邦北部(northern Himachal Pradesh)
来源：伦敦大英博物馆
参阅：外部链接
鉴赏：
该作品虽然具有非常典型的克什米尔风格, 但是一些细节, 比如飘带末端呈箭头形状, 说明该造像可能来自于古代印度喜马偕尔北部的Lahul-Spiti区域的Tabo地区.

Description

This copper alloy image of the Buddhist deity Vajrasattva (‘He whose Being is Adamantine’), is shown crowned and seated cross-legged. Of the facial features of the image, some are picked out in silver (eyes and urna) and copper (lips); the nipples are also inlaid with copper. The deity holds the upright thunderbolt, vajra, in his right hand as is appropriate for this deity; his left hand is shown in a distinctively curved shape, and must once have held a bell, ghanta, though this is now missing. He is depicted crowned, with ribbons flying out from the crown terminals above the ears; these end in distinctive arrow-shaped elements. The scarf draped over his elbows and on his shoulders ends with the same arrow-shaped elements. His hair is piled up above the crown and individual plaits are seen lying on the shoulders, survivals of the yogi tradition that such Buddhist deities share. He is bare-chested but for a sacred thread, yajnopavita, necklace, bracelets and arm-bands. Below the waist he wears a patterned dhoti and he sits with legs crossed on a lotus petal throne. There is broken metal below the throne suggesting that the figure has been, at one time, attached to some larger structure, perhaps a portable shrine. There is no evidence of azurite colouring in the hair suggesting that this image has not been the subject of veneration in the Tibetan cultural zone in recent centuries; similarly, the face is ungilded.

The head is encircled with a now damaged nimbus, which bears beading on the inner face and a curling flame pattern on the outer face (this type of decoration on haloes is very common on Kashmiri work). The body meanwhile has a wide aureole encircling it and this – uniquely – is decorated with a chain of thunderbolts, vajra, chased into the metal surface.

Curator's comments

The feature of the incised thuderbolts on the aureole, reinforces the vajra-quality of the deity. The combination of nimbus and aureole is very distinctive of Kashmir, especially in the 11th century (for comparanda in the BM collections, see 1922,1215.3 a standing image of this same deity, Vajrasattva, and 1966,0616.2 a seated image of the goddess Prajnaparamita). However, a number of other elements, such as the very specific way that the scarf-ends terminate in an arrow-shape, may suggest a regional variant from within this broader canvas, perhaps indicative of the Tabo region of the Lahul-Spiti area of northern Himachal Pradesh.

Label copy prepared by Richard Blurton for Recent Acquisitions View by Trustees:

'Copper alloy image of the Buddhist deity, Vajrasattva ('He whose Name is Adamantine'). 11th century. Inlaid with silver and copper. Eastern kashmir; perhaps Lahul in the western Himnalayas. Made using the lost wax process, and typical of the small portable image carried to Tibet during the Second Propagation of Buddhism in the 10th and 11th centuries. Ex-Collection of Simon Digby; acquired with the Brooke Sewell Permanent Fund. 2015,3010.1.'

Condition

There has been some damage to the sculpture: the nimbus has been broken, while the aureole is now bent on the left side as you view it. The face also has received some damage – the left eye, as viewed is no longer intact, and – as is usual with such images – the face is today slightly smoothed on account of devotional activity.