Page 67 - Sporer Collection of Himalayan bronzes

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A RARE PARCEL GILT, SILVER- AND COPPER-INLAID
FIGURE OF MAHAKALA CHATURBHUJA
TIBET, 16TH CENTURY

The wrathful protector seated on a beaded lotus base,
holding a skullcup and wearing beaded jewelry, coiled
snakes, a garland of freshly severed heads, wearing a
tiger-skinned dhoti, and a billowing sash around his
shoulders, his gold bearded face with copper lips and
silver-inlaid eyes, his ferce expression crowned by a
skull tiara
6ƒ in. (16 cm.) high

$30,000-50,000

PROVENANCE:

The Sporer Collection, New Jersey, acquired
between 1962 and 1985

PUBLISHED:

Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.org), item
no. 24039

Mahakala is both a protector and meditation deity in
Tibetan Buddhism and has many different variations.
Mahakala Chaturbhuja, wrathful and with four arms,
has lineages in both the old and new traditions,
Nyingma and Sarma. In this eminent version, he protects
the Chakrasamvara cycle of Tantras, which are essential
in the Buddhist Vajrayana tradition. He is typically
depicted in a seated position with two hands extended to
the sides brandishing a sword and staff. The sophisticated
gilding and silver inlay the present example, especially
with regards to the gilt facial hair and silver bulging eyes
and teeth, highlight his powerful expression and further
animate Mahakala’s ferce character. For a comparable
work demonstrating similar treatment of the base,
proportions, facial features and incorporation of
inlay, see the Mahasiddha in the Zimmerman
Collection (J. Auboyer, Dieux et demons de
l’Himalaya, 1977, p.152, fg.150).

THE SPORER COLLECTION OF HIMALAYAN SCULPTURE 65