Asian Art Week in New York will take place during mid- to late-September for three international auction houses – Christie’s, Bonhams and Sotheby’s. Within each auction house, Buddhist masterpieces are featured in the Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Works of Art sales.
The artworks originate from across Asia and the span of history – from ancient Gandhara (1st to 5th century CE) to China’s Ming dynasty (1368-1644).
Highlights include Christie’s Tibetan gilt bronze statue of Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi, which has an estimated value between US$1 million and 1.5 million dollars. Bonhams’ gilt copper alloy figure of Shakyamuni Buddha is also notable, and is expecting to fetch between US$800,000 and 1.2 million dollars.
Christie's
Large gilt bronze statue of Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi | Dansati Monastery in Central Tibet
Created in second half of 14th century – first half of 15th century
Height: 31.3 cm
Provenance: New York Private Collection, 1970s
Estimate: US$1,000,000 – $1,500,000
Date: 22 September 2021
Importance
This artwork once adorned the great tashi gomang (Many Doors of Auspiciousness) stupas of Denstatil Monastery in Tibet. Chakrasamvara (male deity) represents compassion and Vajravahari (female deity) embodies wisdom. Together, the two figures once towered over worshippers.
Densatil Monastery, established in Lhasa during 1179, has eight tashi gomang stupas, each possibly up to five metres high. Covered in gilt bronze plaques and adorned with many gilt bronze Buddhist figures, this was a showcase of Tibetan Buddhist deities and the Newar artists’ craftsmanship.
Iconography
Chakrasamvara’s crown has a tall and wide gem-inlaid foliate petals. The lower bands of the crown terminate at each end with lotuses that separate the central face from the side faces. Vajravarahi, Chakrasamvara’s consort, has U-shaped jewelled belt chain falls across each upper thigh.
Chakrasamvara’s iconography closely resembles that of Shiva (both have multiple faces and hold a skull cup). This shows an overlap of Buddhist and Hindu iconography, which both have origins in medieval eastern India.
Christie's
Lamdre Lineage Painting of Two Sakya Masters | Central Tibet
Created in first half of 15th century
69.8 x 60.3 cm
Provenance:
- The Pan Asian Collection (Christian Humann), probably by 1977
- R.H. Ellsworth, Ltd., New York, by 1982
Estimate: US$250,000 – 350,000
Date: 22 September 2021
Importance
The inscriptions on the backside of this painting show that the respected 15th century tantric master, Jangphuga Lama Kunga Lekpa, sponsored this artwork. Verses from the Tibetan Buddhist Heart of Dependent Arising Sutra are also included.
The widely respect commissioner of this painting, Jangphuga Lama Kunga Lekpa, is known to have commissioned a number of Belri (Nepalese style) paintings between 1415 and 1435. The Belri style was a universal Tibetan style and this painting is demonstrative of the appeal to the greater Sakya realm.
Iconography
Two lamas (spiritual leaders) with interlocked gazes are at the centre of this painting. The left lama holds onto a vajra (five-pronged ritual object representing the diamond and thunderbolt) and bell, whilst the right lama holds onto a flaming sword and book. Their identities are not revealed by inscriptions.
The deities in union, floating on a lotus, between the two lamas’ heads are also unlabelled. They can be recognised as Chakrasamvara (male deity of compassion) and Vajrayogini (female deity of great passion). Three labelled teachers float upon lotuses in the negative space between the top of the central lamas’ throne-back. The top register of figures is composed of labelled human teachers and deities with Vajradhara Buddha at the centre.
Bonhams
A gilt copper alloy figure of Standing Sakyamuni Buddha | Central Tibet
Created in 11th / 12th century
Height: 81.5cm
Provenance:
- Private European Collection, acquired in London, 1997
- Private US Collection
Estimate: US$800,000 – 1,200,000
Date: 23 September 2021
Importance
This particular piece’s standing posture is not replicated beyond the 12th century, replaced by a seated representation of Shakyamuni Buddha. A majority of Tibetan images of the Buddha are seated with his right hand in the bhumisparsha mudra or earth-touching gesture.
This particular style, Shalu-Drathang, was undertaken during the Second Diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet, dating between 978 to 1100 CE.
This is during the apogee of cultural exchange for Mahayana Buddhism, which spread eastwards along the Silk Road. This mode of representation in bronze and other portable mediums were popular throughout northern India, Central Asia and China.
This sculpture has the scale of a central shrine image for a smaller chapel.
Iconography
Shakyamuni Buddha is depicted here in a contrapposto standing posture, with his right foot slightly forwards and the toes extending beyond the lotus pedestal. His left hand holds onto the monastic robe, while his right hand is in abhaya mudra, a gesture offering reassurance and safety to his followers.
The face is squarish and has a calm countenance. He has a tall usnisa with snail-shell curls. The robe is decorated with floral patterns, draping across the Buddha’s chest.
Bonhams
A gilt copper alloy figure of Yamantaka Vajrabhairava and Vajravetali
Created in Ming dynasty, mid-15th century
Dimensions
Provenance:
- The Nitta Group Collection, Japan
- Private East Asian Collection
- Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 3 October 2017, Lot 3128
Estimate: US$600,000 – 800,000
Date: 23 September 2021
Importance
Popular during China’s Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties (1644-1911), Tibetan Buddhism was sponsored by the Chinese courts. The creation of Vajrabhairava images were encouraged, either as gifts sent to Tibetan monasteries or honourable guests, or for local worship in China.
More importantly still, Chinese Emperors were traditionally regarded as earthly manifestations of Manjusri Bodhisattva. Vajrabhairava, Manjusri’s powerful form, symbolised the Chinese Emperor’s authority.
This sculpture was previously part of the Muneichi Nitta, a Taiwanese collector based in Japan. He has an extensive collection in Buddhist Art, and donated many Buddhist sculptures to the Palace Museum in Taipei.
Iconography
Vajrabhairava, Indestructibly Frightening in Sanskrit, belongs to a class of deities called Yamantaka or Destroyers of Death. Manjusri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, manifested into this frightening bull-headed deity to destroy Yama, the Lord of Death.
This sculpture has 34 outstretched arms like wings, wielding ritual weapons and features. These carried objects symbolise Vajrabhairava’s ability to eliminate five poisons: ignorance, attachment, hatred, pride and envy. His 16 legs originally trampled animals and Hindu gods, evoking his supremacy over the physical realms of existence.
Vajrabhairava’s nine heads represent the nine categories of Buddhist scriptures. He embraces his consort, Vajravetali, where he coils of his tongue into her mouth.
Sotheby's
Copper alloy figure of Manjushri Bodhisattva | Central Tibet
Created in 12th – 13th century
Height: 48.3cm
Provenance:
- Arthur B. Michael Fund, 1978
- Collection of Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
Estimate: US$400,000 – 600,000
Date: 20 September 2021
Importance
Manjushri, Bodhisattva of Transcendent Wisdom, is in a standing posture. It is very unusual to see a Standing Bodhisattva from Central Tibet.
This object was previously exhibited in New York’s Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
This sculpture is made in the lost-wax technique, where the mould was destroyed in the creative process. It is impossible to replicate, further adding to its value.
Iconography
Manjushri is represented in the universal and idealised form, similar to the Greco-Roman and Renaissance canon forms. He is identified by the Prajnaparamita (Great Wisdom) Sutra laying on the lotus flower at his left shoulder. His left hand holds the flower stem, while the right hand, with palm facing outwards, is in a gesture of charity (varada mudra).
The bodhisattva stands in an elegant, flexed posture (tribhanga) with the hips swaying gently to his right and a sash tied across the thighs and falling to the ankle in a cascade of pleats. A tall three panel crown is tied around the hairline and adorned with an image of Vairocana Buddha, with hands displaying the gesture of highest enlightenment (bodhyagri mudra).
Sotheby's
Figure of a Bodhisattva | Gandhara, grey schist
Created during 3rd-4th century CE
Height: 123.8 cm
Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 25th March 1999, Lot 139
Estimate: US$250,000 – 350,000
Date: 20 September 2021
Importance
This sculpture is the epitome of the Gandharan School of Art, a melange of East and West cultures. The region of Gandhara (modern day Pakistan and Afghanistan) was in the main arteries of the ancient Silk Routes that connected Asia and Europe together.
After Alexander the Great’s military campaigns in the 4th century BCE, Gandharan sculptures were depicted using a Hellenistic artistic style to an Indian central figure. Buddhist patronage was embraced by the Indo-Greek Kushan Emperors, most notably Kaniskha I (reign circa 127-150 CE). He drove the construction of many Buddhist monasteries and artworks within the region.
Iconography
This Bodhisattva is depicted in a well-modelled physique. He is clad in a dhoti secured at the waist, and is adorned in an elaborate array of jewellery – including a diadem, armbands, necklaces, strings of amulets, bracelets and a ring. These ornaments signify prosperity and royalty. They also symbolise the material and spiritual wealth to be gained by lay worshippers.
His left hand rests on his hip, while his right hand is missing. It is possible that it displayed the abhaya mudra or the gesture of reassurance and safety.
The sculpture’s halo has a cavity in the centre, where it would have been secured to a pillar or a wall in a shrine by a large peg.