A GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF MAHAKALA

TIBET, 15TH/16TH CENTURY

Details

A GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF MAHAKALA
TIBET, 15TH/16TH CENTURY
The robust four armed protector, seated on a square incised base, wearing an animal skin and holding a kapala and curved knife in his lower hands, adorned in beaded and serpentine jewelry, his wrathful expression with bared fangs and bulging eyes, centered by a third eye, and surmounted by a skull and jewel diadem, with cold gold and polychromy remaining
5 1/3 in. (13.5 cm.) high

Provenance

The Sporer Collection, New Jersey, acquired in London, 28 August 1970

Literature

Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.org), item no. 24027

Lot Essay

Mahakala is a protector deity known as the primary Wisdom Protector of Himalayan and Tibetan Buddhism as well as a meditational deity. While he has many different forms, he is typically depicted with a wrathful appearance, such as in the present work where he appears seated with four arms, holding tantric implements.

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