A LARGE BRONZE OF VIGHNANTAKA BHAIRAVA SUBDUING GANESHA, NEPAL, 18TH-19TH CENTURY

拍品描述

A LARGE BRONZE OF VIGHNANTAKA BHAIRAVA SUBDUING GANESHA, NEPAL, 18TH-19TH CENTURY Kathmandu Valley. Separately cast in multiple sections, the wrathful Vighnantaka standing in a dynamic pose above the elephant-headed Ganesha, his eight arms radiating around the body, the upper right wielding the khagda, and the upper left a khetaka (buckler), while the remaining hands hold various tantric implements such as the damaru (hand drum), kartika (ritual chopper), kapala (skull cup), trisula (trident), and severed head, while his primary left is held up in tripataka mudra. His ferocious face is marked by three bulging eyes beneath sharply arched brows, flared nostrils, bared fangs, and a curling moustache, framed by large circular earrings and surmounted by a high elaborate crown. He is richly adorned with beaded jewelry and flowing scarves. The crowned Ganesha kneels submissively at his feet, his legs extending to either side and his curling trunk held before the body to sample from a modakapatra. The group is raised on an elaborate architectural throne with a geometric border and an openwork frieze supported by elephants between baluster columns, above finely worked lotus and foliate bands. The deity is enclosed by a separately cast openwork aureole densely formed with curling flames. Weight 6.9 kg (excl. stand), 8.9 kg (incl. stand) Dimensions: Height 41 cm (excl. stand), 47 cm (incl. stand) With a modern stand. (2) Vighnantaka, literally the "Destroyer of Obstacles," is an important wrathful deity of Newar Buddhism. His confrontation with Ganesha creates a striking paradox, since Ganesha himself is traditionally revered as the remover of obstacles. According to a Newar legend, a tantric master neglected to make the customary offering to Ganesha before beginning his practice. Angered, Ganesha attempted to obstruct the ritual, whereupon Vighnantaka was invoked to subdue him. The image therefore represents the overcoming of forces that hinder religious practice and the transformation of obstacles on the path toward enlightenment. The subject reflects the close interaction between Buddhist and Hindu traditions in the Kathmandu Valley, where deities and ritual practices developed alongside one another over many centuries. Ganesha appears here not simply as a vanquished enemy, but as the embodiment of the very obstacles over which Vighnantaka triumphs. In the present imposing sculpture, this confrontation is rendered with exceptional dramatic force: the ferocious, multi-armed deity towers above the diminutive elephant-headed Ganesha, while the great encircling aureole of flames intensifies the sense of supernatural power and tantric mastery. Literature comparison: Compare the closely related Nepalese bronze image of Vighnantaka overcoming Ganesha illustrated by Alice Getty, Ganesa: A Monograph on the Elephant-Faced God, Oxford, 1936, pp. 43-44, plate 18, fig. a. Compare also a related example illustrated ibid., fig. d. Compare a related smaller copper-alloy figure depicting the same subject, Nepal, 16th century, illustrated on Himalayan Art Resources, item number 1930.

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