Padmasambhava Yab Yum – Guru Rinpoche Statue with Filigree

Padmasambhava, known in the Tibetan tradition as Guru Rinpoche, is shown here with his consort in Yab Yum. As one of the central figures of tantric Buddhism, he was invited to Tibet in the 8th century, where he played a decisive role in the transmission of the Buddhist teachings.

Padmasambhava is seated on a lotus base in a relaxed posture with evenly bent legs; his consort is seated facing him on his lap. In his right hand he holds the vajra, while his left hand carries a skull cup. The consort holds a kartika, the curved knife of the dakinis, in her right hand and a skull cup in her left. The tantric staff, khatvanga, rests against Padmasambhava’s left side. Both figures wear the crown and the full ornaments of a bodhisattva. Padmasambhava is fully dressed in a royal robe, while his consort is shown wearing only her ornaments.

His robe, the lotus base, and the lotus hat are decorated with filigree. Fine wires are shaped into spiral forms and filled with small arched elements, assembled into a regular ornament. Set stones are integrated into the filigree, complementing the filigree work with floral motifs. The ornamentation lends Padmasambhava’s robe a brocade-like appearance.

The sculpture follows Vajrayana visual traditions of the Kathmandu Valley, in which ritual identity, gesture, and ornament form a coherent iconographic unity.

Padmasambhava

statue from copper, decorated with filigree, gold- and silver-plated, set with colored stones. The figure is patinated. The faces are set in gold. Handcrafted in Nepal.

• Height: 22 cm
• Width: 17 cm
• Depth: 12 cm
• Weight: 2,358 g

NOTE
The face painting is a cold-gold application and water-soluble.