Page 96 - Christie's Inidian and HImalayan Works of Art, March 2019

667
A GILT AND POLYCHROMED BLACK
STONE STELE OF MAHAKALA
TIBET, 18TH CENTURY
7Ω in. (19 cm.) high
$10,000-15,000

PROVENANCE
Private collection, United Kingdom, 1920s,
by repute

Six-armed Mahakala, chief protector of the
Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism, holds a
faming triratna in a primary hand and stands
on a supine Ganapati, illustrating his role as the
wish-granting form of Mahakala. The reverse of
the stele is cut out revealing the back of the fgure
modeled in the round, a device inherited from
Indian Pala-period sculpture. The polychromy,
which may be a later addition, adds vibrancy to
this already animated fgure.
Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org),
item no. 24513.

667

PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE MANHATTAN COLLECTOR
668
A GILT-BRONZE GROUP OF A HERUKA
AND CONSORT
TIBET, 18TH CENTURY
4¬ in. (11.7 cm.) high
$4,000-6,000

This wrathful male blood-drinker or heruka
holds a curved-knife and skull cup around the
body of his female consort. Together, they are
meditational deities of the highest yoga tantra.
The avian imagery common to Heruka fgures of
the Nyingma tradition like this has roots in Bon,
the indigenous religion of Tibet.
Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org),
item no. 24507.
668

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