TIBET, 17TH CENTURY

The present group depicts the four-armed, Chaturbhuja form of the protector deity, Mahakala, seated in embrace with his consort, Chandika, along with one of his retinue figures, Kakamukha, or Raven-Faced, Mahakala. Chaturbhuja Mahakala is considered the special protector deity for the Chakrasamvara cycle of tantras, and is thus an important deity in all of the Sarma (new) traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. He is worshipped both as a singular figure, or as in the present work, alongside a bevy of retinue figures. Given the presence of the Kakamukha figure in the current grouping, it is possible these works once formed a three-dimensional mandala with Chaturbhuja Mahakala at its center.
The figure of Chaturbhuja Mahakala sits on corpses over a circular base with pendent, leafy, lotus petals around the edges. In his primary hands, he holds a fresh heart over the lip of a skull cup, and would have held a sword and khatvanga in the upper hands. His ferocious face, with bulging eyes and flaming brows, stares intently into the eyes of his consort, Chandika, who holds a curved knife and skull cup in her hands. Mahakala and Chandika are adorned with garlands of severed heads, and Mahakala wears a human skin draped over his shoulders, the face of the deceased carved into his upper back. Kakamukha Mahakala stands in a dynamic pose, holding a curved knife aloft and a skull cup in front of his torso. Both figures, with their full-bodied proportions, richly applied pigments, and large size, embody the boldness of the Tibetan carved wood figural tradition, one that is far rarer than that of the metal-casting tradition, but is nonetheless exemplary of Himalayan sculpture.