A SILK EMBROIDERED THANGKA OF MAHOTTARA HERUKA

TIBET, 19TH CENTURY

Details

A SILK EMBROIDERED THANGKA OF MAHOTTARA HERUKA
TIBET, 19TH CENTURY
The winged fierce deity with eight legs, twenty-one heads and forty two arms each holding a small figure of Buddha, standing in embrace with Buddhakrodesvari, on a lotus throne and backed by flames
20 7/8 x 18 ¼ in. (53 x 46 cm.)

Provenance

The Van Der Wee Collection, Belgium, acquired in Amsterdam, October 1969

Literature

L. P. Van der Wee, Tibetan Appliqué Hangings in European Collections, The Bulletin of the Needle and Bobbin Club, vol. 58 p.35-36, fig.4
L. and P. Van der Wee, A Tale of Thangkas: Living with a Collection, 1995, pp.64-67, fig.26
Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org), item no.100620

Exhibited

De Taal van de Thangka, Ethnographic Museum, Antwerp, 1995

Brought to you by

Anita Mehta

amehta@christies.com +1 212 636 2190

Lot Essay

Heruka Mahottara is the supreme deity of the Eight Herukas. With an extremely wrathful demeanor, the winged god appears maroon in color with twenty-one faces, forty-two arms and multiple legs. A comparable painted thangka is in the Brooklyn Museum of Art (36.751).

More from The Van der Wee Collection of Himalayan Paintings

View All