Page 150 - 2021 March 17th, Indian and Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art, Christie's New York City

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A PAINTING OF GANAPATI
TIBET, 18TH CENTURY
23Ω x 16 in. (59.7 x 40.6 cm.)
$20,000-30,000
LITERATURE:
Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 24652.

西藏 十八世紀 象頭神畫像
出版:
“喜馬拉雅藝術資源”（Himalayan Art Resources），編號24652。

A derivative of the Hindu god Ganesha, the Buddhist deity Ganapati is a
disseminator of wealth and destroyer of obstacles. Ganapati Maha Rakta, or
The Great Red Lord of Hosts, the form of Ganapati illustrated here, is regarded
as an emanation of Avalokiteshvara. Along with the deities Kurukulla and
Takkiraja, this form belongs to a trio of wealth deities known as mor chen
kor sum, or the Three Great Red Deities, included in the Thirteen Golden
Dharmas of Sakya. Resplendent paintings of Ganapati, such as the present,
were often accompanied by companion paintings of Kurukulla, Takkiraja, and
the remaining groups within the Thirteen Golden Dharma set.
Ganapati lifts his proper right leg in dance, his left foot trampling a white rat,
whose expelled jewels pile beneath the lotus platform. Each of his twelve
hands hold a prescribed attribute: starting from the right upmost hand,
he holds an axe, arrow, trident hook, sword, spear and vajra; in the left, a
pestle, bow, khatvanga, kapala filled with flesh, and kapala filled with blood.
Ganapati’s lowermost left and right hands, holding the vajra and kapala with
blood, are held to the heart in a peaceful manner. The remaining ten attributes
are waved in a threatening manner upon the backdrop of a fiery aureole.
Face cocked slightly downward, Ganapati widely expands his jaw, exposing
his teeth and a long, curling tongue. Long, sharp tusks flank either side of his
unpretentious trunk. His three white eyes hold contrast to his vibrant red skin.
His black hair is gathered into a top knot and embellished with a bejeweled
crown. Fine silks drape around his shoulders and layer the lower half of his
body. His figure throughout is abundantly adorned with bracelets, armlets,
necklaces, and foot charms.
Above Ganapati, the spirit subduing deity Bhutadamara Vajrapani is
represented trampling a corpse. The lower right corner represents Rakta
Vasudhara carrying a kapala, while the lower left corner depicts Tinuma
Vajrayogini in a dancing posture which parallels Ganapati.
Compare the present painting to a sixteenth-century painting of dancing red
Ganapati at the Rubin Museum (acc. no. C2005.11.1, Himalayan Art Resources,
item no. 89964). While the Rubin example dates much earlier, and exhibits
influence from Nepalese painting traditions, both are strikingly similar in their
representation of Ganapati. See the referenced painting’s entry on Himalayan
Art Resources for a translation of Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrug’s (1497-1557)
dictation on the iconographical and compositional features of Ganapati, which
the present painting adheres to closely.