NORTHEASTERN INDIA, PALA PERIOD, 12TH CENTURY

This exquisitely modeled sculpture of Manjuvajra is among the finest examples of Pala bronze sculptures created during the golden age of Buddhism in Northeastern India. The languid form, slender physiognomy and detailed execution, all exhibit the elegance and artistic innovation for which art from the Pala period is renowned. Manjuvajra is one of many esoteric forms of the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, Manjushri, and in his hands he holds a sword for cutting through ignorance, a utpala (blue lily), and a bow and arrow. His two forward-most hands with wrists crossed perform a gesture representing the union of perfect wisdom and skillful means.
Manjuvajra is an esoteric form of the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, Manjushri, stemming from the text of the Manjushri-Namasangiti Tantraand the Secret Assembly (Guhyasamaja) Tantra. There are seven main mandalas associated with the texts and this is the seventh from that group. Being one of the manifestations of Manjushri, Manjuvajra is a bodhisattva of discriminating wisdom. His penetrating insight – often symbolized as a flaming sword held aloft in his right hand – cuts through dualistic fixation by means of transcendent knowledge. He is thus identified by his association with the Prajnaparamita Sutra, the seminal text of early Buddhism distinguishing the sixfold path which cultivates the perfection of generosity, discipline, patience, exertion, meditation and wisdom.
This six-armed esoteric form of Manjushri emerged in Buddhist imagery late in the Pala period; all known images date to the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The three-faced six-armed Manjuvajra is seated on a double lotus base with beaded rim. He wears a foliate belt and a tiered headdress with triangular lappets, the eyes, urna and necklace of the main face are inlaid in silver, and the lips and necklaces are inlaid with copper.
An almost identical figure of Manjuvajra with silver and copper inlay, currently on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. L.2017.311), was included in the exhibition, “Crowns of the Vajra Masters: Ritual Art of Nepal,” the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2017-2018. Compare the iconographic details including the implements he is holding with a twelfth-century bronze figure of Manjuvajra in the collection of the Potala Palace illustrated by U. von Schroeder in Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p. 291, fig. 73D. Further, compare the fine silver and copper inlay with another almost identical sculpture sold at Christie’s New York, 31 March 2005, lot 54, as well as a Pala bronze illustrated by B. Khanna in Human and Divine: 2000 Years of Indian Sculpture, 2000, no.29, sold at Christie’s New York, 15th March 2016, lot 59.