Hevajra - Lot 44

Hevajra Khmer art, second half of the 12th century Cambodia or neighboring countries Gilded bronze. H. 25 cm Provenance - Christie's Amsterdam sale, November 3, 1998, lot 152 - Acquired at this sale by its current owner - Featured in the exhibition "Bronzes royaux d'Angkor - Un art du divin" held at the Musée Guimet (Paris) from April 30 to September 8, 2025, reproduced in the catalog under no. 96 Bibliography: - Pierre Baptiste and Thierry Zéphir: "L'Art Khmer dans les collections du musée Guimet", Réunion des des Musées Nationaux 2008 - Helen I. Jesup and Thierry Zéphir: "Angkor and ten centuries of and Ten Centuries of Khmer Art", exhibition catalog held at the Grand Palais, (Paris) from January 31 to May 26, 1997 and at the National Gallery of Art (Washington) from June 29 to September 28, 1997. - Pierre Baptiste, David Bourgarit, Brice Vincent and Thierry Zéphir "Bronzes royaux d'Angkor - Un art du divine", catalog of the exhibition held at the Musée Guimet (Paris) from April 30 to September 8, 2025 A major divinity of Tantric Buddhism, the god Hevajra traditionally traditionally referred to in Khmer inscriptions as Vajrin, i.e. "he who possesses the vajra". who possesses the vajra", is represented here in his most classical guise as Kapâladhara "cranial cap bearer". Standing in a dancing posture, ardhaparyanka, he leans on his two left legs left legs, the two right ones raised. Note here the subtlety of Khmer Khmer artists in the discreet demarcation of the two pairs of legs. the two pairs of legs. Initially, he had to trample on the four Maras, or main obstacles to enlightenment. from attaining enlightenment, whose representation was to be fixed to the lotiform base which has now disappeared. The eight pairs of outstretched arms terminate in hands supporting sixteen skull caps containing animals and deities. In the right hands the right hands are an elephant, a horse, a donkey, an ox a camel, a man, a fabulous animal (stronger than the elephant) called sarabha, and a cat. In the left hands, the skullcaps house Dhanada, the god of wealth Antaka, or Yama, the judge of the dead, the sun, the moon and the four elements elements, Tejas (fire), Vayu (air), Varuna (water), and Prthvi (earth). The god is adorned with eight heads, arranged in three superimposed registers. The Buddha, Lokeshvara and Vajrapani are represented in the first register. four jina associated with their respective orients: Akshobhya to the east, Ratnasambhava to the south to the South, Amitabha to the West, Amoghasiddhi to the North, and in the third register, the fifth jina, Vairocana, associated with the zenith. This arrangement of heads symbolizes the universal nature of Hevajra's Buddha nature. Beyond the beautiful dancing posture and the subtle arrangement of the eight pairs of arms arms framing the bust and head, it's worth noting the rarity of Khmer metal sculptures that have retained their original gilding. Bibliography For other gilded representations of Hevajra - Miniature Hevajra shrine H. 20.5 cm from the Musée National du Cambodge, Phnom-Penh Phnom-Penh (Inv. Ga 2494) reproduced under no. 102 in the exhibition catalog "Angkor et dix siècles d'Art Khmer" exhibition held at the Grand Palais, Paris, from January 31 to 26 May 1997 and at the National Gallery of Art (Washington) from June 29 to September 1997. - Hevajra H. 15.5 cm in the Musée Guimet (Inv. MA 849) reproduced by Pierre Baptiste and Thierry Zéphir in "Khmer Art in the Musée Guimet collections Guimet" Réunion des Musées Nationaux 2008, number 92 page 303. - Hevajra H. 31.5 cm, no. 163, Christie's Amsterdam sale, December 10, 2002 - Hevajra H. 22.5 cm from the Musée National du Cambodge, Phnom-Penh (Inv. Ga 4170) reproduced under no. 97 in the exhibition catalog "Bronzes royaux d'Angkor - Un art du divin". Un art du divin", catalog of the exhibition held at the Musée Guimet (Paris) from April 30 to April to September 8, 2025: