Page 12 - Bonhams, Images of Devotion, April 21 2021

6
A GILT AND POLYCHROMED COPPER REPOUSSÉ MANDALA Published
PANEL WITH INDRA AND KANHAPA Martin Brauen, Mandala: Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism, New
NEPAL OR TIBET, CIRCA 14TH CENTURY York, 2009, fig.1.10.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.68444 Franco Ricca, Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell’ Himalaya,
33 x 53.4 cm (13 x 21 in.) Turin, 2004, fig. IV.71.
David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of
HKD120,000 - 160,000 Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, p.75,
fig.46.

尼泊爾或西藏 約十四世紀 彩繪銅鎏金錘揲因陀羅與噶那巴壇城飾板 Exhibited
The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam
Once a part of the eastern quadrant of a glorious sculptural mandala, Collection, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 6 October - 30 December
this fine Newari red and gold repoussé panel depicts two scenes 1999.
divided by the mythical Great Tree, Shirisha. On the left, Indra, Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell’ Himalaya, Palazzo
propitiated by a serpent king and queen, sits on his elephant, Airavata. Bricherasio, Turin, 18 June - 19 September 2004.
On the right, Mahasiddha Kanhapa rides a zombie in the charnel Mandala: The Perfect Circle, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 14
grounds, assisted by broad-bellied Acala. The panel’s bands of finely August 2009 - 11 January 2010.
articulated flames, vajras, and lotus petals form protective rings that Mandala: Scared Circle in Tibetan Buddhism, Michael C. Carlos
are common to tantric Buddhist mandalas. Museum, Emory University, Atlanta, 21 January - 15 April 2012.

While it is possible that this great mandala could have been Provenance
commissioned and produced in Tibet, the panel’s fine repoussé The Nyingjei Lam Collection 菩薩道收藏
and pigmented background indicate the work of a Newari master On loan to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1996–2005
craftsman. So too, does its classic Newari representation of Indra, On loan to the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2005–2019
with his lithe pose and broad diadem. A closely related pair of Newari
repoussé plaques from the same period were sold at Bonhams, New
York, 14 March 2016, lot 13.

10 | BONHAMS