Page 104 - Himalayan Art Macrh 19 2018 Bonhams

3039
A LARGE GILT COPPER ALLOY KAPALA
NEPAL, 16TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.33050
10 1/4 in. (26 cm) high

$10,000 - 15,000

尼泊爾 十六世紀 銅鎏金嘎巴拉碗

This monumental altarpiece takes inspiration from kapalas that incorporate the skulls of
esteemed monks, used in tantric ritual practices to transcend inner defects. Resting on
an outward-flaring circular base, the rim of the bowl-shaped vessel rises to the head of
a Bodhisattva flanked by two grinning skulls linked by beaded garlands. For a related
example, see Tingley, Celestial Realms, Sacramento, 2012, pp. 98-9.

Published
Pratapaditya Pal, A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art: from
the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, Chicago, 1997, pp.231 & 342, no.306.

Provenance
James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection
Sotheby’s, New York, 25 March 1999, lot 12
European Private Collection
Bonhams, New York, 14 September 2015, lot 52

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