A SILVER INLAID BRASS AND COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF CHAKRASAMVARAQIANLONG PERIOD (1735-1796)
With separately cast silver implements in the hands, elephant skin on the back, and garlands of skulls and severed heads below the waist.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.16701
42 cm (16 1/2 in.) high注脚A devout follower, the Qianlong emperor enthusiastically patronized Tibetan Buddhism, erecting numerous temples throughout the empire and producing vast sculptures to inhabit them. The imperial workshop under his reign employed master sculptors from China, Tibet, Nepal, and Mongolia, personally supervised by the emperor to ensure quality. Cast with the delicate precision and technical virtuosity of an imperial Qianlong bronze, this captivating silver inland figure of the great meditational deity (yidam) Chakrasamvara with his consort Vajravarahi is a representative tour de force.
 
Despite the absence of an inscription, this outstanding sculpture shares many stylistic details with several Qianlong-marked bronzes by the imperial atelier. A remarkable figure of Kurukulla in the Palace Museum, for example, has the same slender yet sensuous physiognomy and delicate hands with supple long fingers (Luo, Iconography and Styles: Tibetan Statues in the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2002, pp.396-7, no.176). Both deities have similar crisply modeled faces with a wrinkle at the bridge of the nose to pronounce their furrowed brows. Chakrasamvara's piercing gaze is particularly inspired. Like the imperially-marked Kurukulla, this Chakrasamvara wears sophisticated, separately cast garlands and beaded chains, and his tall chignon is a similarly homage to the Pala style of medieval Northeastern India which underwent a revival during the Qianlong reign.
 
Though arguably less refined, a Mahachakra Vajrapani is another example of a Qianlong-marked bronze exhibiting this imperial standard of confident modelling and precise casting (Luo, Tibetan Buddhist Sculptures, Beijing, 2009, no.51). It shares the brown even patina lasting on the present bronze, which is common among Pala revival works from the Qianlong period. And, its creator has gone to similar lengths to seemingly engrave every strand of the deities' astonishing hair.
 
The present sculpture is also closely related to a group of monumental tantric deities in the Palace Museum, Beijing (ibid., pp.98, 102, 104-5 & 260, nos.41, 45, 47 & 161; Luo, op. cit., pp.430-1, no.192). Bronzes in this group, though uninscribed, are generally attributed by leading Chinese scholars to the imperial workshop in Beijing. These deities all wear skillfully rendered bone ornaments similarly designed with small plaques connecting beaded chains around their wrists, upper arms, ankles, and waists. The ornaments of some figures are also enhanced with silver inlay. Furthermore, their garlands of severed heads are distinctly constructed with substantial spacing between each head. Moreover, they wear almost identical hooped earrings to the present bronze, and skull crowns with looped chains on the forehead. Other related examples are published in Buddhist Statues in Yonghegong, Beijing, 2002, p.19, no. 19; and Rist & Grewenig, Buddha: 2000 years of Buddhist Art. 232 Masterpieces, Völklinger, 2016, p.488-9, no.217.
 
This sculpture of Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi in ecstatic embrace expresses one of the most important transcendental ideals in Tantric Buddhist art – the supreme bliss of enlightenment attained through the perfect union of Wisdom (Vajravarahi) and Compassion (Chakrasamvara). Here Chakrasamvara's hair is arranged in, "the coif of a yogi", and is decorated with a crescent moon, which, according to Rhie and Thurman, serves as a reminder that "he was first worshiped by the wandering ascetics of medieval India, and that although he is a thoroughly Buddhist deity, he shares some attributes with Shiva, the Hindu god of yogis." (Wisdom and Compassion, New York, 1991, p.278)

Provenance
Private Swiss Collection, acquired in Geneva in 2007


銅錯銀勝樂金剛像
清乾隆（1735-1796年）
勝樂金剛手中法器、背後所披象皮，以及腰下懸頭骨鍊與人頭鍊均為銀質且單獨鑄造。
喜馬拉雅藝術資源網16701號
高42釐米（16 1/2英吋）

2,400,000-4,000,000港幣

清乾隆皇帝為虔誠的藏傳佛教信徒，在位時曾興建寺廟並下令鑄造諸多佛教造像以供奉其中。乾隆年間宮廷造辦處匯集了來自中原、西藏、尼泊爾以及蒙古的傑出工匠，乾隆帝本人親自督導造辦處以確保成像品質。本尊魅力非凡的銅錯銀造像塑造重要本尊勝樂金剛與明妃金剛亥母，以乾隆宮廷造像的工藝水準鑄成，細節複雜而極盡精美，堪稱典範之作。

儘管未刻有銘文，本尊造像與其他乾隆款宮廷造像間相似之處比比皆是。故宮中珍藏一尊著名的智行佛母像（見羅文華，《圖像與風格——故宮藏傳佛教造像》，北京，2002年，頁396-7，編號176），其窈窕的身形與靈動修長的手指均與本尊勝樂金剛像如出一轍。二尊造像均五官輪廓分明，鼻樑上有明顯皺起，以突出其眉頭緊鎖之態。勝樂金剛之眼神凌厲，尤為攝人。與乾隆款智行佛母像相似，此尊勝樂金剛同樣身掛單獨鑄造之精緻人頭鍊及串珠鍊，其高聳的髮髻則承襲了在乾隆年間得以復興的東北印度帕拉風格。

另一尊乾隆款大輪金剛手像儘管做工不及本尊造像精美，亦體現出清代宮廷造像的精準鑄工（見羅文華，《藏傳佛教造像》，北京，2009年，編號51）。此大輪金剛手像呈現與本拍品相似的均勻的褐色包漿，在乾隆年間帕拉復興風格的作品中十分常見。此外，兩位主尊與佛母的頭髮亦以相似手法刻畫得絲絲入微。

本尊造像亦與故宮博物院中一組大型密宗本尊像聯繫緊密（同上，頁98，102，104-5及260，編號41，45，47及161，以及《圖像與風格》，頁430-1，編號192）。本組銅像儘管無款識，但中國學者普遍認為其皆出自清宮造辦處。本拍品與該組密宗本尊像均於手腕、上臂、踝骨與腰部配戴設計相似的骨飾，骨珠串間以方形骨片相連。部分造像的骨飾錯銀，正如此尊勝樂金剛。此外，故宮造像的人頭鍊上頭顱間隔亦十分明顯，其圓形耳環與骷髏冠同樣與本尊造像幾乎一致。其他相關造像可參考《雍和宮佛像寶典》，北京，2002年，頁19，編號19，以及Rist與Grewenig編《Buddha：2000 years of Buddhist Art—232 Masterpieces》，佛爾克林根，2016，頁488-9，編號217。

勝樂金剛與金剛亥母雙身像表現了密宗佛教藝術中最為重要的玄奧理想之一，即通過智慧（金剛亥母）與慈悲（勝樂金剛）之完美結合而悟道之無上喜悅。勝樂金剛的頭髮高高盤起，呈「瑜珈士髻」並點綴著一道彎月，根據Rhie及Thurman研究，彎月之意為提醒觀者「勝樂金剛最早受中世紀印度的苦行僧所敬拜，儘管其為佛教本尊，其部分屬性卻與印度教的瑜珈士之神濕婆相同」（見《Wisdom and Compassion》，紐約，1991年，頁278）。

來源
瑞士私人珍藏，2007年購於日內瓦