Tibetan
Gilded Bronze Buddha
Hayagriva
Embracing Consort on Pretas
Qing
Dynasty, circa: 19th century
H 14 in(35cm), W 8 in(20cm), D 5 in(12.5cm)
Condition: excellent!
 | A
spectacular 19th century rendering of Hayagriva with consort. Superbly sculpted
and cast in several sections with hand-chased details and cold pigment, depicting
Hayagriva, a fierce form of the compassionate Avalokiteshvara, with three faces,
six arms and four legs, wings and a horse head in his hair, which gives him his
name “horse-necked one”, for the sound of his approach is likened to a thunderous
neighing which drowns all false appearances. All three heads are crowned with
skulls, above which the red hair rises against a flaming mandorla. Hayagriva wears
a belt strung with freshly severed heads, a lion skin loincloth with the head
attached, snake belts and bone beads, flaming swords, trident and noose; in his
front left hand a skull cup filled with transformed blood and guts of sentient
beings. Huge wings unfurl behind him as he clasps his consort, who is also draped
in lion skin, a crown and necklace of skulls and holds the vajra and skull cup.
Both figures wear bone earrings, armlets, bracelets, anklets and strands of bone
beads and stand in pratyalida (aggressive) posture characteristic of wrathful
deities. Beneath their feet are vanquished pretas, or ghosts, one prone and one
lying on its back, representing the grasping human ego, the entire scene set atop
a beaded lotus throne; highly detailed and meticulously finished.
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