Page 35 - March 23 2022 Boinghams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art
P. 35

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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