Silk and velvet appliqué with silk embroidery mounted onto a cloth backing. The wrathful three-headed deity with a dark blue body and six arms, embracing his consort Diptachakra and standing in alidhasana atop Ishvara and Uma, grasping a kila in the primary hands, with two vajras and a trident in the secondary and tertiary hands, wearing a tiger hide as well as human and animal skins as lower garments, his heads adorned with skull tiaras.

Provenance: Sotheby’s New York, 26 March 2003, lot 192. The Moke Mokotoff Collection, New York, acquired from the above. John ‘Moke’ Mokotoff (1950-2022) was a devoted Buddhist practitioner, passionate collector, and esteemed dealer of Asian art. After studying expressive art and photography in school, he moved to New York, where he began to deal in the nascent market for Chinese, Indian, and Himalayan art. In 1980, Moke opened his first gallery, Mokotoff Asian Arts, and actively sold important works to some of the most prominent collections in New York and globally, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Rubin Museum of Art. Revered for his knowledge of Chinese and Indian textiles, Moke was also a compassionate teacher and lifelong patron of Buddhist monasteries and nunneries.
Condition: Good condition, old wear, soiling, browning, stains, minor losses, small tears, loose threads, possibly minor repairs.

Dimensions: Size 88 x 88 cm

This appliqué was once just a small component of a monumental thangka. Tibetan monasteries stored vast scrolled images that were unfurled down steep mountainsides or tall buildings for public viewing on ceremonial occasions, see Zwalf, Art of Tibet, 1981, p. 68. Tibetans are expert needle-workers but do not themselves produce silk fabric. The silks used in this appliqué and embroidered picture are Chinese; Tibetan monasteries often had stocks of fine and antique Chinese silks to use as required, see David Weldon and Jane Casey, Faces Of Tibet: The Wesley and Carolyn Halpert Collection, Carlton Rochell, New York, 2003.

Vajrakilaya, also known as Vajrakumara, is identified by the kila or three-sided peg held with his two main hands at his heart. Emanating as a meditative deity, his practice is celebrated for its ability to remove obstacles and adversarial forces that impede spiritual advancement. He is believed to be the wrathful manifestation of the karma-purifying deity Vajrasattva.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related embroidered silk painting with satin, brocade, and damask, depicting the goddess Kurukulla, Tibet, 19^th century, 142 x 119 cm, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 2014.720.1.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 30 November 2022, lot 1035
Estimate: HKD 500,000 or approx. EUR 61,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A silk appliqué of Tilopa, Tibet, circa 18^th century
Expert remark: Compare this silk appliqué fragment of the Mahasiddha Tilopa, which similarly once belonged to a monumental thangka. Note the size (132 x 101.2 cm).