Page 34 - March 23 2022 Boinghams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
417
A LARGE PAINTING OF CHATURMUKHA MAHAKALA
TIBET OR CHINA, 18TH CENTURY
30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm.)
$10,000-15,000
LITERATURE:
Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 24736.
This large and impressive painting depicts Chaturmukha Mahakala, the four-
faced form of the deity associated with the Guhyasamaja tantra. Wrathful in
appearance, the central deity holds a curved knife and kapala in his primary
hands and a sword and spear in his raised hands. He is surrounded by the four
attendant dakinis - Dombini, Chandali, Rakshasi and Singhali Devi, all depicted
with different colored skin. At top center, a naga-hooded buddha sits on a lotus
base with his left hand extended, and at bottom, a dark-skinned brahmin sits
holding a shin-bone trumpet to his lips and a skull cup in his left hand. The
latter, known as Brahmanarupa Mahakala, is another form of Chaturmukha
Mahakala, intended to be a more palatable and less secretive version of the
main deity: according to tradition, when the great translator, Nyen Lotsawa
received the Manjuvajra Guhyasamaja teachings from the dakini, Risula, she
also passed on to him the lessons of Chaturmukha Mahakala in the form of
a dark-skinned brahmin, as the main form of Chaturmukha Mahakala was
supposed to remain secret to all but the most practiced in the tradition.
The present painting stylistically resembles paintings created in and around
Beijing in the late eighteenth century, when the Gelug sect was the dominant
form of Buddhism practiced in the Qing court. The red sun and white moon in
the sky, the multicolored billowing clouds, and the rich greens and blues of the
landscape are all characteristic of the Beijing style.

西藏或中國 十八世紀 四臂大黑天像

出版:
“喜馬拉雅藝術資源” (Himalayan Art Resources), 編號24736

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