Tibet, Vajrabhairava (14)

18th century, (Tibet or Tibeto-Chinese?), Vajrabhairava (labelled ‘Shri Chakrasamvara’), bronze, 19 cm, Northern Himalayan Section photo 36 on wisdomlib, at the National Museum of Nepal.

The treatment of the buffalo head is reminiscent of a 15th century Vajrabhairava with the same morphology (9 heads, 16 legs, 34 arms) seen on HAR . This one is depicted in embrace with his consort, Vajravetali. His heads are arranged in a row of seven+one+Manjushri’s at the top. The lost pedestal likely featured gods, birds and other animals under his feet. He holds a flaying knife and a skull cup in his main hands, an elephant hide in his upper hands, and a variety of peaceful and wrathful implements in the others (including body parts).

18th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava and consort, terracotta with polychromy and cold gold, 15 cm, private collection, on Michael Backman

18th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava and Vajravetali, gilt bronze, 25,2 cm, private collection, Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art lot 2889, 30th May 2022, Christie’s (Hong Kong).

18th-19th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, bronze with cold gold and paint, 23 cm, private collection, Art d’Asie lot 34, 20th June 2017, Christie’s (Paris).

Unlabelled (circa 15th century? Tibet?, brass), Vajrabhairava, private collection, photo on HAR

With the same morphology but alone (ekavira form). Naked and ithyphallic, Vajrabhairava is usually adorned with skull crowns, a garland of severed heads, bone jewellery, and snakes. The above wears a cross-belt and a sacred cord made of a long snake tied across his chest.

Tibet, Vajrabhairava (13)

Circa 17th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, stone with polychromy and cold gold, Indian & Southeast Asian Art lot 111, 27th March 2003, Christie’s.

 

17th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, bronze with traces of polychromy, Art d’Asie lot 155, 23rd November 2004, Christie’s, Paris.

Vajrabhairava, the buffalo-headed form of Yamantaka, is depicted in his one-head (with flaming hair and three eyes) and two-arm form (sahaja heruka). He always holds a flaying knife and a skull cup before his heart and may stand on a prostrate bull. Naked and ithyphallic, he is adorned with a skull crown, a garland of severed heads, bone jewellery.

18th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, polychrome terracotta, private collection, Indian & Southeast Asian Art lot 71, 24th March 2004, Christie’s.

A vivid example of his 9 head+34 arm+16 leg ekavira form, standing on deities and animals. He holds a skull cup and a flaying knife in his main hands, a variety of peaceful and wrathful implements in the others. He has a buffalo head and six angry faces arranged in a circle, plus another angry face, and Manjushri’s head on top. 

Tibet, Vajrabhairava and consort (7)

Circa 17th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava and Vajravetali, silver, private collection, photo on Christie’s.

Vajrabhairava is an aspect of Yamantaka (who embodies the essence of Manjushri’s speech) with a buffalo head as his main head. He may be depicted alone or with Vajravetali, his consort. The most popular form has 9 heads, each with three eyes, 34 arms, 16 legs.

the top head is Manjushri’s, the remaining heads are angry ones.

17th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava with consort, gilt metal, private collection, photo on HARUpdate 14/03/22: labelled ’18th century, Tibeto-Chinese’ on Sotheby’s, Indian & Southeast Asian Art lot 177, 21st March 2002.

The left legs are stretched and crush four gods and four birds, the right legs are bent and crush another four gods and four mammals.

18th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava with consort, (gilt) metal, private collection, item 21320 on HAR.

She holds a skull cup and a flaying knife. He holds the same implements in his main hands, the hide of an elephant in his upper hands, peaceful and wrathful attributes in the remaining hands (these may be a ritual staff, an axe, a kila peg, flames, a lotus, a trident, a drum, a sword, an arrow, a vajra sceptre in the right hands, an impaled body, an arm, a leg, a noose, a bell, a closed umbrella, a blue lotus, a bow, a buddha, a fly whisk, a coil of intestines in the left ones).

Tibet, Vajrabhairava (12)

Vajrabhairava is a meditational deity and one of the three aspects of Yamantaka, who represents the essence of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom. In sculpture, he may have one or nine heads, the main one always being a buffalo head with three eyes, and he is depicted alone or in embrace with his consort.

Undated (circa 13th century?), Tibet, Vajrabhairava, brass, private collection, photo on Himalayan Art Resources

This rare and early sculpture depicts him in his ekavira form, with 9 heads (a buffalo head, 7 angry heads, and Manjushri’s head), 34 arms, 16 legs. He is adorned with earrings, a festooned necklace with skulls, a matching belt, a garland of tightly packed severed heads, skull bracelets and anklets, and even his horns have a string of tiny skulls around them (see close up on above link). His main hands hold a flaying knife and a skull cup.

His upper hands hold the hide of an elephant stretched across his back.

15th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, gilt metal (copper alloy with turquoise inlay), private collection, photo on HAR.

Vajrabhairava treads on Hindu deities, birds, and mammals placed on the pedestal. Instead of being stacked the heads may be arranged in a circle of seven, plus one, plus Manjushri’s at the top.

18th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, gilt metal (with cold gold and pigment), private collection, photo on HAR

When alone, his other attributes may be a drum, a hook, an arrow, an axe, a ritual staff, a vajra stick, in his right hands, a razor, a lotus, a bell, a wheel, a limb, a bow, a shield, a noose, Brahma’s head with four faces, in his left hands.

Tibet, Vajrabhairava (11)

Circa 15th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, gilt bronze with silver inlay, private collection, photo on Christie’s

Yamantaka in his Vajrabhairava aspect always has the head of a male buffalo as his main heads. Sahaja Vajrabhairava has one head with three eyes, bared fangs, sharp flaming horns, a curled tongue, orange hair, a five-skull crown (inlaid with silver and stones or glass replacement in this case), bone ornaments, a garland of severed heads. He holds a flaying knife and a skull cup in his hands, before his heart. Always alone, he often stands on a prostrate bull and may have the hide of an elephant on his back, although sculptures usually depict him with a celestial scarf instead.

15th-16th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, brass with pigments, private collection, photo on Bonhams, Hong Kong

Ekavira Vajrabhairava, with nine heads, often arranged in a row of 7+1+Manjushri’s at the top (since he is a wrathful manifestation of the bodhisattva of wisdom), 34 hands, in which he would have held wrathful and peaceful implements, 16 legs, treading on deities and animals. His main hands always hold a flaying knife and a skull cup.

16th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, gilt metal, private collection, photo on Himalayan Art Resources

Occasionally the animals are aligned on the base (we can see a garuda among them on this example), the Hindu deities are on a platform above, and Vajrabhairava on another platform that appears to crush them.

17th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava and Vajravetali, gilt copper alloy with turquoise inlay, private collection, photo on Bonhams, Hong Kong

With the same morphology but in embrace with his consort, Vajravetali, who holds a skull cup and a flaying knife. His right legs are bent and tread on four Hindu gods and four mammals, the left legs are stretched and treac on another four gods and four birds.

Tibet, Vajrabhairava (10)

17th century, Tibet, Yamantaka, gilt bronze with cold gold and polychromy, private collection, photo on Christie’s

Yamantaka, a generic term related to the embodiment of Manjushri’s speech, includes Yamari (red and black) and Vajrabhairava, who always has the head of a buffalo as his main head, and whose most popular form in portable Himalayan sculpture has nine heads, thirty-four arms, sixteen legs. The above is in embrace with his consort, who holds a skull cup and a flaying knife. He holds the hide of an elephant across his back and a variety of peaceful and wrathful implements, including a skull cup and a flaying knife in his main hands. His heads are arranged in a row of seven, plus one, plus Manjushri’s at the top. The couple stands on 8 Hindu deities and 8 birds.

13th-14th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, bronze with cold gold and pigments, private collection, photo on Christie’s, Paris

Ekavira Vajrabhairava has the same aspect but is always alone. On this rare example he stands on a platform supported by birds atop another platform resting on the deities’ back. A foliate motif surrounds the top part of the lotus base. The heads are stacked in three lots of three, with Manjushri’s head at the centre of the top row.

18th century, Tibet, Yamantaka, gilt bronze, private collection, photo on Christie’s

18th century, Tibet, Yamantaka, gilt bronze, private collection, photo on Sotheby’s

On occasions he stands on mammals and deities with his right legs and on birds and deities with the left ones. Among the attributes in his left hand are Brahma’s head (lower hand) and a shield (middle hand); on the other side we can see a razor (lower hand) and flames (middle hand). 

18th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, gilt bronze, private collection, photo on Christie’s

Tibet, Vajrabhairava (9)

14th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, metal (brass with turquoise inlay, cold gold and pigments), private collection, photo on HAR .

This early brass work depicts Vajrabhairava, an aspect of Yamantaka, in his ekavira form. He stands alone, naked, and has 9 heads, the main one being a buffalo’s, 16 legs that tread on deities and animals, 34 hands that hold peaceful and wrathful implements. The arrangement of the heads (presumably4+4+1) is unusual. They are normally stacked in three lots of three, with Manjushri’s head at the centre of the upper stack (see next picture), or in a circle of 7+1+Manjushri’s at the top.

Undated, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, wood, private collection, photo on Himalayan Art Resources .

The main hands hold a flaying knife and a skull cup before his heart, the upper hands hold the hide of an elephant stretched across his back.

Unlabelled (Tibet or China?, copper alloy), Vajrabhairava, private collection, photo on Himalayan Art Resources .

Sahaja Vajrabhairava has one (buffalo) head with three eyes, two hands in which he holds his main attributes, two legs. He wears the hide of an elephant on his back, a garland of severed heads, and bone ornaments.

14th-15th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava with Vajravetali, gilt bronze, private collection, photo on John Eskenazi .

A colourful example of Vajrabhairava in embrace with his consort, who has one head, two arms, two legs, and holds a skull cup and a flaying knife. Apart from the elephant hide in his upper hands and the skull cup and flaying knife in the main ones, some of the implements he usually holds in his right hands are a ritual staff, an axe, a phur.bu, some flames, a lotus, a trident, a drum, a sword, an arrow, a vajra sceptre; among the objects he holds in his left hands we may find an impaled body, a human leg, a noose, a bell, a closed umbrella, a blue lotus, a bow, a buddha, a fly whisk, a coil of intestines.

Tibet, Yamantaka (3)

Yamantaka is a generic term including three entities: Black Yamari, Red Yamari, Vajrabhairava.

15th century, Tibet, Rakta Yamari, gilt copper and pigment, copper pedestal, private collection, photo on Hanhai AuctionUsually in embrace with his consort, Rakta (red) Yamari either holds a staff with a human head or a flaying knife in his right hand, a skull cup in the other. The couple stands on a prostrate bull, sometime with a corpse on it. He wears a tiger skin loin cloth and a garland of severed heads, she wears bone apron and a garland of skull.

15th century, Tibet, Yamatanka, gilt bronze with turquoise and pigments, private collection, photo by Polyauction .

Vajrabhairava, the ithyphallic buffalo-headed form of Yamantaka, may be alone and have one head and two hands, in which he holds a flaying knife and a skull cup. He has three eyes, orange flaming hair, bared fangs, a curled tongue, and wears a five-skull crown, bone ornaments and a garland of severed heads.

The above has long strands of hair falling over his shoulders and a long snake worn as a sacred thread.

15th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, gilt bronze (copper alloy) with pigment, private collection, photo by Christie’s on Himalayan Art Resources.

An extremely rare sculpture of Vajrabhairava with three heads, one buffalo and two human ones, six arms and two legs. His main hands hold a flaying knife and skull cup, the middle ones hold a drum and a tridanda (trident made of lotus stalks), the upper ones are held as if to stretch an elephant hide, now missing, across his back.

Unlabelled (circa 15th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, brass with cold gold and pigments), private collection, item 3218 on Himalayan Art Resources. Update 16/03/22: 1300-1399, Tibet, item 10573 on HAR

The popular 9-head, and 34-hand form, a buffalo head as his main head, holding a flaying knife, a skull cup, peaceful and wrathful implements, his sixteen legs treading on animals and gods.

16th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, bronze with cold gold and pigments, private collection, photo on Christie’s

An unusual work with nine heads and eighteen arms, the upper hands holding an elephant hide across his back, the main hands holding a flaying knife and a skull cup before his heart, the remaining left hands hold, from top to bottom, Brahma’s head, a shield, a limb, a noose, a coiled rope?, a bell, the remaining right hands holding various implements including a triratna, a staff, an arrow, an axe. He wears a bone apron with heads dangling from it.

Tibet, Vajrabhairava (4)

Often called Yamantaka, Vajrabhairava is a specific form of Yamantaka (the other two are Rakta Yamari and Krishna Yamari seen in recent posts).

18th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, copper alloy, photo on HAR, at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York (USA).

The ekavira (solitary) form of Vajrabhairava with a row of seven angry heads and a large buffalo head at the centre, topped with another angry head and Manjushri’s, with 34 hands and 16 legs, adorned with the usual wrathful ornaments, holding a flaying knife and a skull cup in his main hands before his heart.

17th century, Tibet, gilt copper alloy and copper repoussé stand, private collection, photo on Sotheby’s

He stands with the right legs bent and the left ones stretched, trampling on deities and animals.

On this item, cold gold has been applied to the face and orange pigment has been used to dye the hair, eyebrows, beard and moustache, giving him a very wrathful appearance.

Undated (early work), Tibet?, Vajrabhairava, stone, private collection, photo on HAR

Rarely seen in sculpture, the one-head, two-hand and two-leg form of Vajrabhairava holds a flaying knife and a skull cup, wears a five-skull crown, a garland of severed heads and the hide of an elephant across his back. He may stand on a prostrate bull, as above. The addition of Manjushri’s head on top of his is unusual.

Undated (early work), Tibet, Vajrabhairava, black stone, private collection, photo on HARUpdate 29/11/22: 14th century, Nepalese artist in Tibet or Yuan China, 20 cm, as per Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Volume Two, p. 900, by Ulrich von Schroeder (Visual Dharma Publications, Hong Kong).

Alternatively, the heads are stacked in three groups of three, with the buffalo head at the  bottom and Manjushri’s at the top. The artist has used cold gold to highlight the wrathful ornaments and the attributes held by the deity.

Tibet, Vajrabhairava and consort (5)

17th-18th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, gilt copper alloy with cold gold and pigments, at the Newark Museum (USA).

Sculptures of Vajrabhairava with his consort usually depict him with nine heads, thirty-four hands, sixteen legs.

18th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, bronze (copper alloy) with traces of pigments, private collection, photo on Christie’s.

His right legs are bent and crush Hindu gods and mammals, the right legs are stretched and crush more gods and some birds. Vajravetali has one head, two hands, two legs – one of them around his waist. She holds a flaying knife and a skull cup and wears a bone apron.

18th century, Tibet (or China?), Vajrabhairava, bronze (copper alloy), at the National Gallery in Prague, (Czech Republic).

They wear skull crowns, bone jewellery, he has a garland of fifty freshly severed heads, she has a garland of skulls.

18th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, gilt copper alloy, at the Dallas Museum of Art (USA).

She always holds a flaying knife and a skull cup, he has the same attributes in his main hands across her back.

18th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, gilt bronze (copper alloy) with traces of polychromy, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (USA).

This buffalo-faced aspect of Yamantaka with consort is a meditational deity.

18th century, Tibet, Vajrabhairava, gilt copper alloy and pigment, separate base, private collection, auction A138AS lot 149, 23rd September 2006, Koller.

Here is an example of the nine heads being arranged in three tiers of three heads.