Page 20 - Himalayan Art Macrh 19 2018 Bonhams

3012
A THANGKA OF LEGDEN MAHAKALA
TIBET, CIRCA 13TH/14TH CENTURY
Distemper on cloth.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61511
18 7/8 x 14 1/2 in. (47.7 x 36.8 cm)

$80,000 - 120,000
西藏 約十三/十四世紀 持橛大黑天唐卡

In this very rare form of Mahakala, Legden wears a heavy cloak and felt boots redolent
of indigenous Tibetan spirit deities. Crows and wild dogs surround him as he sits on
a double-rail bench before a prone figure and a flaming mandorla. Vajrasattva and his
consort reside immediately above, while Vajradhara initiates the row of lineage masters in
the top register.

The vibrantly patterned black tunic recalls the style favored in Central and Southern Tibet
under the Newari artistic influence during the 13th and 14th century. Two Mahakalas
from Densatil depict Mahakala clad in this heavy cloak, a sculpture in the Rubin Museum
of Art and a relief panel in a private collection (HAR#65443 & 32079). The collar on the
shoulders is also shared by a thangka of Vaishravana reputedly acquired by Tucci at Ngor
monastery in 1939 and now preserved in the National Museum of Oriental Art, Rome
(inv.966/798), see Klimburg-Salter, Discovering Tibet, New York, 2015, p.192. Another
related thangka of Legden Mahakala is in the Royal Ontario Museum (HAR no.77564).
Lastly, a seated four-armed Mahakala within a similar pointed-flame back panel is
published in Pal, Tibetan Painting, London, p.79.

Provenance
Private European Collection, 1990s
Pantheon Worldwide, Hong Kong, 2015
Collection of a Private European Family

18 | BONHAMS