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A PAUBHA OF GANESHA
NEPAL, LATE 15TH CENTURY
Distemper and gold on cloth.
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 89046
Image: 29 x 27 1/3 in. (73.5 x 69.5 cm)

$80,000 - 120,000

尼泊爾 十五世紀晚期 象神博巴

Illustrated within the center of this charming paubha is Ganesha, the elephant-headed deity who
is beloved by Hindu and Buddhist worshippers alike in both South Asia and the Himalayas. In
Nepal, he is revered as a benevolent protector who helps to overcome obstacles, as well as
bestow good fortune and propitious beginnings to those undergoing a new journey. His other
name, Ganapati, or the Lord of the Ganas, refers to his dominion over the dwarf-like beings that
represent the categories and conditions that make up the material world. In this sense, Ganapati
holds sway over the forces determining the course of each and every event. White in complexion
and displaying an assortment of implements and hand gestures in each of his six arms, Ganesha
sits beneath a pair of oversized rats as his animal mount (or vahana). He is enthroned within an
elaborate makara torana and shaded beneath the hood of a seven-headed serpent. Looming
overhead is the eagle deity Garuda, who clutches in his talons a pair of nagas, or snake deities.
Lastly, he is surrounded by eight auspicious emblems and a host of eighteen deities, some which
include the guardians of the cardinal points and intermediary directions.

Despite Ganesha’s popularity in Nepal, depictions of him as the central figure in Nepalese
paintings are rare. Some elements here, such as the elaborate scrollwork, the application of red
and gold pigments, and a blue background with flowers are rooted in earlier Indian traditions,
closely relating to a Vasudhara mandala dated to 1504 in the British Museum, London (Zwalf,
Buddhist Art and Faith, 1985, p. 124, no. 165). Also worthy of comparison are two 15th century
paintings from the Zimmerman Family Collection, one which is published in Pal, Art of the
Himalayas, Treasures from Nepal and Tibet, 1991, p. 72, no. 34 and another Nepalese painting
with Ganesha as a subsidiary figure (Sacred and Sublime, Art from India and Southeast Asia,
2007, no. 43; HAR 22515) Other parallels can be found on a 15th century Tibetan thangka of a
dancing Ganesha painted in the Nepalese style (see Kossak & Singer, Sacred Visions, 1998, p.
175, no. 49). Both paintings of Ganesha bear the slender features and slanted eyes characteristic
of Nepalese models, and are accompanied by similar renderings of makaras with elongated tail
feathers and intricate foliate designs that serve as backdrops for the throne.

Published
Hugo E. Kreiiger, Kathmandu Valley Painting, The Jucker Collection, Boston, 1999, p. 42, no. 8.

Provenance
Dr. Ernst ‘Mischa’ and Angela Jucker Collection
Sotheby’s, New York, 28 March 2006, lot 7

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