Lot 2711. A gilt-bronze kila, Dali kingdom, 12th century; 4 3/8 in. (11.1 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 150,000 - HKD 250,000. Price realised HKD 1,062,500. © Christie's Image Ltd 2019.

The upper portion of the kila is cast with the upper torso of the three-headed Vidyaraja with a pair of wings on the back, the hands in vairocana mudra, rising from lotus petals surmounted by a double vajra, the lower portion in the form of a plain pointed dagger. The back is cast with a ring-loop attachment in the form of a coiled snake, box.

Note: Compare to a similar bronze kila but depicting a single-faced bodhisattva, also wearing a double vajra crown and hands in the vairocana mudra, excavated from the pagoda of Chongsheng Temple in Yunnan, currently in the Yunnan Provincial Museum Collection, illustrated in Li Kunsheng, The Complete Works of Yunnan National Fine Arts: The Sculpture and Painting Arts of Nanzhao and Dali Kingdoms, Kunming, 1999, no. 298.

Christie's. Glories of Buddhist Art, Hong Kong, 29 May 2019