Page 34 - Bonhams March 22 2022 Indian and Himalayan Art NYC

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A POLYCHROMED WOOD TORANA WITH TWELVE BODHISATTVAS
TIBET, CIRCA 13TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.16834
32 in. (81.3 cm) high

$20,000 - 30,000

西藏 約十三世紀 木質彩繪十二菩薩陀蘭納門

This intricately carved wood torana serves as a backdrop for a standing Buddha or bodhisattva
sculpture. The composition has a flame border and is populated by twelve bodhisattvas seated
in alcoves. The surround of the plain central throne back is decorated with an iconographic
formula known as ‘The Six Ornaments’ interspersed with meandering swells of vegetation. This
formula generally comprises—from top to bottom—pairs of elephants, followed by mythical
lions, horses or kinnaras (the latter in this case), sarabhas (a small boy riding a flying horse),
makaras, nagas, and a garuda at the apex. Remarkably preserved, the torana is one of few
objects of its kind to has survived to this day, making it extremely rare.

Traces of red, black, and blue pigment, remain, as well as a delightful speckled pattern on
the makaras. The style of the intertwined vegetal curlicues and flame border are exemplary
of master Newari woodcarvers who were trained in the Pala Buddhist art of Northeastern
India and instrumental in its transfer to Tibetan monasteries in the 13th century. Compare the
palette and low-relief carving of the vegetal sprays in a circa 13th-century wood manuscript
cover published in Rossi & Rossi, Early Tibetan Manuscript Covers, London, 1996, no.14.
Similar treatment of ‘The Six Ornament’ design can be observed in 13th-century thangkas
of Tathagatas held by American museums (HAR 101355, 101356 & 101357). And a roughly
contemporaneous torana, albeit modest by contrast to the present lot, stands behind a wood
sculpture of Pagpa Lokeshvara in the Museum Rietberg, Zurich (von Schroeder-Imhof, Schritte
zur Erkenntnis, Zurich, 2006, pp.68-9, no.14).

Provenance
Private West Coast Collection since 1980’s

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