18th Oct, 2024 11:00
TWO-DAY AUCTION: Fine Asian Art, Buddhism and Hinduism
308
A PARCEL-GILT SILVER REPOUSSÉ GAU DEPICTING SHADBHUJA MAHAKALA, BHUTAN, 19TH CENTURY
Sold for €2,340
including Buyer's Premium
Finely chased and embossed, the wrathful six-armed deity standing in samabhanga atop a prostrate Ganesha atop a lotus pedestal, wearing a garland of severed heads, elephant and lion skins, and a billowing shawl engraved with a floral motif. He is holding a blood-filled kapala and a kartika in his primary hands while his radiating arms hold mala beads, a drum, a trident, and a lasso.
The copper backplate is engraved with a Tibetan mantra within a foliate aureole over a lotus base. The short sides each set with two rectangular cord loops for suspension.
Provenance: From a German private collection of Himalayan art.
Condition: Very good condition with typical wear, traces of use, manufacturing flaws, small dents, and expected wear to the contents within.
Weight: 1,019 g (incl. contents)
Dimensions: Size 17.5 x 15.2 x 6.5 cm
The sacred contents of the reliquary comprise:
- A red cloth lining inscribed with a mantra.
- Two sealed repositories of sacred texts (both seals unbroken).
- Two wax figures of bodhisattvas.
- A shell.
- Two incense stick fragments.
The six-handed form of Mahakala was introduced to Tibet by the founder of the Shangpa Kagyu school, Khyungpo Naljor, in the 12th century. Shadbhuja Mahakala appears in the eight-chapter Kriya Mahakala Tantra. Known as the Dharmapala or ‘protector of the Dharma,’ this wrathful manifestation of Buddha represents ultimate destructive power and the dissolution of the universe at the end of all time. Mahakala is almost always depicted with a crown of five skulls, which represent the transmutation of the five klesas (negative afflictions) into the five wisdoms. He also wears a garland consisting of fifty severed heads, the number fifty is in reference to the number of letters in the Sanskrit alphabet and is symbolic of the pure speech of Buddha.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related parcel-gilt silver repoussé gau, dated late 18th-early 19th century, at Michael Backman Ltd., London, inventory number 3653. See other Bhutanese gaus in the Barbara and David Kipper Collection, illustrated by Madhuvanti Ghose (ed.), Vanishing Beauty, Art Institute of Chicago, 2016, p. 55. A gau of Avalokiteshvara with similar parcel gilt face is in the Mengdiexuan Collection, illustrated by Xu Xiaodong (ed.), Jewels of Transcendence, Hong Kong, 2018, p. 73, no. 3.
Finely chased and embossed, the wrathful six-armed deity standing in samabhanga atop a prostrate Ganesha atop a lotus pedestal, wearing a garland of severed heads, elephant and lion skins, and a billowing shawl engraved with a floral motif. He is holding a blood-filled kapala and a kartika in his primary hands while his radiating arms hold mala beads, a drum, a trident, and a lasso.
The copper backplate is engraved with a Tibetan mantra within a foliate aureole over a lotus base. The short sides each set with two rectangular cord loops for suspension.
Provenance: From a German private collection of Himalayan art.
Condition: Very good condition with typical wear, traces of use, manufacturing flaws, small dents, and expected wear to the contents within.
Weight: 1,019 g (incl. contents)
Dimensions: Size 17.5 x 15.2 x 6.5 cm
The sacred contents of the reliquary comprise:
- A red cloth lining inscribed with a mantra.
- Two sealed repositories of sacred texts (both seals unbroken).
- Two wax figures of bodhisattvas.
- A shell.
- Two incense stick fragments.
The six-handed form of Mahakala was introduced to Tibet by the founder of the Shangpa Kagyu school, Khyungpo Naljor, in the 12th century. Shadbhuja Mahakala appears in the eight-chapter Kriya Mahakala Tantra. Known as the Dharmapala or ‘protector of the Dharma,’ this wrathful manifestation of Buddha represents ultimate destructive power and the dissolution of the universe at the end of all time. Mahakala is almost always depicted with a crown of five skulls, which represent the transmutation of the five klesas (negative afflictions) into the five wisdoms. He also wears a garland consisting of fifty severed heads, the number fifty is in reference to the number of letters in the Sanskrit alphabet and is symbolic of the pure speech of Buddha.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related parcel-gilt silver repoussé gau, dated late 18th-early 19th century, at Michael Backman Ltd., London, inventory number 3653. See other Bhutanese gaus in the Barbara and David Kipper Collection, illustrated by Madhuvanti Ghose (ed.), Vanishing Beauty, Art Institute of Chicago, 2016, p. 55. A gau of Avalokiteshvara with similar parcel gilt face is in the Mengdiexuan Collection, illustrated by Xu Xiaodong (ed.), Jewels of Transcendence, Hong Kong, 2018, p. 73, no. 3.
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