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国内拍卖首页 > Galerie Zacke > 第一天——精美的亚洲艺术、佛教与印度教 > Lot 0051
A RICHLY INLAID GILT COPPER VAJRACHARYA PRIEST'S ORACLE CROWN, NEPAL, LATE 19TH CENTURY
奥地利
2025年10月16日 开拍
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拍品描述
Exceptionally worked, the tall crown of rounded conical form worked with five bone chitipati heads with eyes inlaid in amethyst and gilt teeth baring, issuing flaring tendrils in coral and turquoise with silver beaded embellishments, each head balancing a large teardrop turquoise medallion decorated with turquoise, coral, amethyst, and lapis lazuli cabochons, and silver and gilt lappets and beading respectively, all above a band of similarly worked roundels. The center of the brim applied with a raised band edged with lapis lazuli and centered by a bed of rubies, separated by gilt beading, and further adorned with turquoise sprigs.The body of the crown further applied with silvered filigree bands adorned with cabochons of coral, lapis, turquoise, and imitation crystals. Surmounted by a tiered finial with bands of lapis lazuli and coral, separated by gilt beaded bands, and compressed sections of filigree adorned with inlaid cabochons, all terminating in a coral and lapis four-prong half vajra.Provenance: C. P. Ching Fine Oriental Art Ltd., Hong Kong, 26 February 1999. A private collection in the United Kingdom, acquired from the above. A copy of a certificate from C. O. Ching, confirming the dating above, accompanies this lot. C. P. Ching Fine Oriental Art was established in Hong Kong in 1980. The gallery was known for their collection of fine Buddhist art primarily from Tibet and Southeast Asia, as well as Japanese and Chinese textiles and Tibetan furniture. Their clients included museums, interior designers, and private collectors. In the summer of 2002, after 22 years, the gallery closed its doors, after its director Annie C. P. Ching and her family chose to embark on a new venture in Shanghai, China.Condition: Very good condition with expected wear and manufacturing irregularities. Scattered light nicks and small surface scratches, minute dings, rubbing, minor losses to inlays.Weight: 5,603 gDimensions: Height 44.5 cm, Diameter 28 cmElaborate crowns such as the present lot were worn by Vajracharya priests, the highest rank in the Nepalese Buddhist community. The conical crown is unique to Newari Buddhism and embodies a memory of older and now lost Indian Buddhist practices. The term Vajracharya denotes both a caste and a family name, and the designation entitles its holders to perform reserved priestly functions, analogous to the privileges held by Brahmans in Hinduism. This crown is exceptional in its complexity: It is dominated by a series of inlaid plaques and inlaid bone chitipatti heads. All is surmounted by a four-pronged thunderbolt scepter, or vajra. In Sanskrit, the term Vajrayana means 'The Way of the Vajra (or Diamond)' and Vajracharya means 'The Way of the Masters of the Vajra'. The vajra is, indeed, the archetypal symbol of tantric Buddhism in Nepal and alludes to the adamantine state of existence of human beings who reach full enlightenment. It is represented in the three most important ritual regalia of Vajracharya priests: the vajra ritual scepter, the vajra bell, and the crown. Initially, the crown is gifted to young boys who descend from Vajracharya families during the initiation ceremony.This initiation ceremony consists of a complex series of rituals that consecrate boys as Vajra priests and invest them with the esoteric power to perform Vajrayana rituals. At the climax of this ceremony, the initiated boy wears the consecrated crown, while holding in his hands the consecrated vajra scepter and bell. Through this consecration, the crown acquires ritual agency: it empowers Vajracharya's high status. The act of wearing this crown evokes the priest's religious achievement: the head of the priest aligns with the central axis—corresponding to the half vajra at the top of the crown—and identifies with Buddha Vairochana himself. A direct visual parallel with Vairocana gives the priest authority to guide other practitioners on the path to enlightenment.These crowns are owned by Vajracharya families and often transmitted from generation to generation. After the performance of the initiation ceremony, it becomes an essential accoutrement in the rituals of the consecration and empowering of sacred images and monuments. Vajracharya priests officiate at these usually communal rituals for the salvation of all Buddhist devotees in public spaces, in the presence of donors who commissioned the ceremony.Literature comparison:Compare a closely related crown head-dress with semi-precious inlays, Nepal, dated to the 19th century, 24.5 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number 1961,1214.1. Compare a related gilt metal headdress with semi-precious stones, Tibet, dated to the 20th century, 28.5 cm high, in the Norton Simon Museum, accession number P.2006.02.05. Compare a related, earlier Vajracharya priest's crown, Nepal, 13th-early 14th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2016.408.

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