This richly gilded figure of Vajrasattva can be attributed to the Malla Dynasty at roughly its height in the fourteenth through the fifteenth centuries. The delicate facial features, finely cast vajra and bell, along with the extent of the inlaid semi-precious stones, are all characteristic of Nepalese art of the period. The muscular upper body, cinched waist, dramatic overhang of the double-lotus base, and the foliate-style crown furthermore reveal the sculptural tradition established by the Newars, the indigenous inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley. The Newar people were the progenitors of the most sophisticated forms of Nepalese material culture and, as such, their patrons were largely the royal and religious elite. Situated between India to the south and Tibet and China just beyond the Himalayan range to the north, the Kathmandu Valley holds a unique geographic position conducive to the proliferation of its artistic practices.
The present work depicts Vajrasattva as a fully perfected bodhisattva to assist in liberating all sentient beings from the cycle of rebirth and death. This important Buddhist deity is the primary and ceaseless source of Vajrayana teachings, and the practice of Vajrasattva has the unique power to cleanse any sentient beings of negative karma and transgressions of Buddhist vows. He holds a bell symbolizing the female aspect of wisdom and a vajrasymbolizing the male qualities of skillful means and compassion. Together, these aspects indicate Vajrasattva’s fully enlightened status.
The present figure includes certain characteristics such as the tightly-packed lotus blossoms and delicately-beaded rim of the base, the short neck and pursed facial features, and the presence of red pigments at the back of base, that indicate a possible Khasa Malla origin. Compare the present work, in particular the facial features, with a gilt-bronze figure of Shadakshari Lokeshvara from the Khasa Malla dynasty of the thirteenth or fourteenth century sold at Bonhams New York, 23 July 2020, lot. 848.