Page 54 - Bonhams Indian and Himalayan Art March 2016 New York

On its back, Tibetan inscriptions appear behind each deity on the front. The letters, ‘ohm, ah,
hum’, represent the pure nature of their body, speech, and mind. Where necessary, the letters
are also written on their sides and upside down to follow the physical depiction and correct
body placement of each of the figures in the mandala.
Compare this immaculate painting with a very similar Sakya order mandala of Paramasukha
Chakrasamvara, in the Michael J. and Beata McCormick Collection, published in Leidy
& Thurman, Mandala, 1997 pp. 92-3. Also from Ngor monastery, it bears inscriptional
evidence that dates it circa 1500. Like this Ushnishavijaya mandala, it is associated with
a long life ceremony.
Unusual to this mandala is the large size of its central figure, which is set against the green,
blue, and red of her immediate aureole to project outwards like dazzling light. The proportions
allow for the fine treatment of her olive green and pale maroon lower garments that drape
in sumptuous folds across her lap – features that are often absent at the center of more
conventional mandalas of the period. Compare a Pancharaksha Mandala of strikingly similar
composition, sharing a brilliant white figure in its center, dated to the 15th century and held in
the Alain Bordier Foundation (see von Schroeder, Tibetan Art of the Alain Bordier Foundation,
Hong Kong, 2009, pp. 40-1, pl. 14).
The palette of this present mandala is strong and vibrant, consistent with many portraits
and mandalas that have survived from Ngor monastery. Compare the Thirty-Two Deity
Guhyasamaja mandala sold in these rooms, 17 March 2014, lot 18 that was dated by
inscriptional evidence to circa 1520-1533. Its ever-present subtle shading within colors
adds even greater depth, and its delicate Newar-style scrollwork, and superb condition,
places this mandala as one of the most important of its period still in private hands.
Referenced
HAR – himalayanart.org/items/88540
Provenance
Private European Collection
Rossi and Rossi, London, 2001
Carlton Rochell, New York, 2003
Private Collection, New York, 2003-present

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