A gilt-bronze figure of Vajrayogini, Tibet, 15th century

Acquired in the 1950s (by repute), and thence by descent.

Vajrayogini is the the essential female deity of the Chakrasamvara Tantra, the main tantra in the Anuttarayoga, or 'Unexcelled Yoga,' category of Vajrayana Buddhism. It offers extensive guidance on achieving the four stages of bliss within the central channel of the body. Vajrayogini is a semi-wrathful deity who is most often depicted in her red form and nude, conveying her purity and complete otherworldliness. She has a third eye conveying this awakened state of consciousness and her wisdom and embodiment of ultimate truth. Her dancing posture conveys her dynamic energy with which she tramples a supine male figure beneath her. Her blood-filled thod-pa or skull cup (Skt. kapala) and drigug or curved knife symbolize her ability to cut through the illusions of conventional truth and her ability to transcend worldly associations with sanguine fluid.

This sculpture is highly representative of a style that permeated central Tibet in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A similar 16th-century sculpture, but missing its original base, was sold recently in these rooms, 18th September 2023, lot 185.