Buddhist deity Vajradhara in union with his consort Prajnaparamita

The Tibetan Buddhist deity Vajradhara is seated in a yogic meditation posture and in sexual union (yab-yum) with his energy consort (sakti) Prajnaparamita. His crossed hands hold identifying attributes, the dorje (vajra, thunderbolt scepter denoting clarity of mind) and the prayer bell (ghanta), here associated with wisdom (prajna). Prajnaparamita displays not her usual attribute of the book of wisdom, but rather two tantric tools, the human skull cup (kapala) and the flaying knife (karttrka), expressions of her ultimate detachment from material concerns. Vajradhara has a third eye painted on his forehead, and both he and his sakti wear their hair raised in a chignon evoking the Buddha’s ushnisha, the skull protuberance denoting a state of enlightenment. The deities display fine robes with decorated borders, elaborate jewelry, and most notably, large and elaborate ritual crowns and floral ear ornaments. Vajradhara’s robe is placed around the shoulders in a style evolved from the Central Asian cloudcollar. Throughout, the jewelry has settings for precious stones that this object appears never to have received; instead, these voids are in-painted red or blue, as if to suggest the ruby or coral, turquoise or lapis lazuli as inset into more costly commissioned examples of such images. Vajradhara is seated on a double-lotus pedestal with pearl border, and two end-ribbons from his robes descend to the base. The image and base are cast as an integrated whole, in a copper alloy using the lost-wax process, hand-tooled and completed with the application of mercury gilding and painted pigments. The core is hollow and has been sealed at the base with a sheet of copper that is secured into the underside of the image. It is engraved with the doubledorje design, two intercepting vajras (visvavajra), the defining motif of the Vajrayana sect. This image formed part of an ensemble, presumably to be deployed in a mandala configuration during ritual use. Examination by X-ray has revealed that the interior of the image contains artifacts. Such contents are typically prayers written or printed on paper or cloth and, on occasions, clay containing the ash of a revered deceased teacher, wrapped in a swatch of cloth from his robe. The base bears two Chinese words, which may be transliterated as Bao chuan (treasure stream), probably a personal name, on the base in modern paint. After some deliberation it was decided not to open the base to reveal these reliclike enclosures, so they remain unidentified and unstudied. The physiognomy of the figures, with broad rounded faces and a distinctive, somewhat extravagant, treatment of the diadem and jewelry, as well as the flamboyant flowing scarves, all point to the style of the Yongle period (1403 – 1424) of the Ming dynasty. In all probability this image is a Ming copy of the Yongle style. It lacks the refinement expected of Yongle-period gilt bronzes and never received the intended inlay of precious and semiprecious stones and coral. Nor does the lotus-petal detailing extend fully around the base, a Yongle feature. That this sculpture was made for the Chinese market is certain; whether it was produced in eastern Tibet or in China remains unresolved, although the conscious emulation of the Yongle style suggests Chinese manufacture.

Catalogue entry from John Guy. The Robert Collection. Decorative Arts, Volume XV. Wolfram Koeppe, et al. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in association with Princeton University Press, 2012, pp. 364-365.

Robert Lehman, New York