Beschreibung:

A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF TSANG NYON HERUKATIBET, 15TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4906
12 cm (4 3/4 in.) highFootnotes西藏 十五世紀 銅鎏金藏紐赫魯加像
Provenance:
With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s
This Tibetan sculpture pays homage to one of the great luminaries of Indian Buddhism, the 9th-century Buddhist master Virupa. Like other mahasiddhas (great adepts) of the medieval period, Virupa spent years in formal Buddhist training before withdrawing from monastic life to follow his own path. He is credited with a hyper-efficient meditative practice known as lamdre ("the Path with the Result"), which was later introduced to Tibet by the Indian teacher Gayadhara (d. 1103) and became a central tantric tradition within the Sakya school. Formerly an abbot of Nalanda, Virupa received the 'Path', which is based mainly on the Hevajra Tantra, from the deity Vajra Nairatmya after giving up on decades of unsuccessful attempts at the Chakrasamvara Tantra. His subsequent rituals cost him his affiliation, as other members of the monastic hierarchy frowned upon his use of meat and alcohol. Banished from Nalanda, he wandered as a yogin performing a number of miracles.
Virupa represents the archetype of the unconventional siddhas, conventionally represented here holding his left hand out in a gesture signifying his ability to perform miracles. In his left, he cradles a skullcup, a symbol of his mastery of tantric practices. Other examples of the saint show the same iconography, depicting the saint with a portly frame seated over an antelope skin, such as another of about the same period, previously in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 7 October 2019, lot 802. From the period and region of Central Tibet, other sculptures also depict the siddha encrusted with turquoise jewels and with a painted face, imparting a life-like appearance (Bonhams Paris, 12 June 2023, lot 10). In thangkas, such as one depicting the Sakya Lamdre, the enlarged image of the saint is surrounded by smaller images in various gestures, suggesting the various miracles credited to Virupa and ultimately, acknowledging his role as the quintessential mahasiddha (Rob Linrothe, Holy Madness: Portraits of Tantric Siddhas, New York, 2006, pp. 288-90, no. 46.),
No other mahasiddha is so well-developed in terms of the variety of different appearances. His gesture with his right hand , while often associated with a narrative related to stopping the sun in order to avoid paying a bar tab, is also associated with other miracles including commanding the Ganges River to part or reverse its flow. Unlike other sculptures depicting the saint with his arm extended, this image shows Virupa seated forward with his mouth closed and his eyes gazing out in a trance-like state. Departing from the more exaggerated depictions, Virupa holds court here with more subtle gestures. Nevertheless, he sits on a proportionally over-enlarged base, a feature which seems particularly associative to this bronze, but whose broad petals are shared by another of the subject (HAR 8376).Saleroom noticesPlease kindly note that the Heading line of this Lot should read "A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF TSANG NYON HERUKA".