Vajrapani and consort, Tibet, 15th-16th century

Distemper on silk; the blue-skinned wrathful Dharmapala stepping to the right in pratyalidha, holding a vajra in his raised right hand and a ghanta in the left, wearing a flayed tiger-skin loincloth, a skull crown and jewellery of snakes and gold and beaded human bone, long necklaces of severed heads and skulls, a diaphanous scarf over the shoulders, and a golden vajra emerging from the orange hair bound with a snake, the face with three eyes and wide open mouth revealing white fangs and a curling red tongue, with flaming eyebrows, moustache and beard, and clasping his blue-skinned prajna, naked but for golden earrings, beaded human bone jewellery and a skull crown and necklace, and holding a blood-filled kapala in her left hand and kartrika flaying knife in her right, the couple trampling prostrate Hindu deities on a lotus pedestal, all set against a background of fire and smoke with Garuda above flanked by Chakrasamvara to the left and Vajrapani to the right

Condition: This work is in good condition. Behind the glass frame examination, there is very minor rubbing in the centre and on the lower right, repaired tears along the left hand edge and very small medium loss on the lower left edge. There is a very small puncture hole on lower left edge. No other restoration visible under the ultraviolet light. Colour: The catalogue illustration is very accurate. The gold colour is more intense and the blue is slightly lighter with a hint of yellow on the actual work. As viewed.
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A particular genre of Tibetan painting, to which this rare example belongs, is characterised by the use of simple line on a coloured background with subtle shading and minimal use of colour to portray an ethereal presence of the gods. While the majority of this genre is painted on black, nagthang, the use of blue silk in this painting reflects the prescribed iconographic blue skin colour of Vajrapani. The blue serves to contrast with and highlight the licking red flames of the halo, and dramatically emphasise the black hair of the severed heads and the white of eyes, teeth and fleshless human bone. The full and rounded forms of the deities compare closely to 15th century drawing such as woodblock prints from a set completed in Beijing in 1410, see von Schroeder 2001, p.1241, fig.XX-7. The posture of the group, impassioned yet poised, and simplicity of detail such as the restrained use of jewellery might suggest a 15th century date in comparison to a more elaborate interpretation of the style as seen in an early 16th century Mahakala thanka in the Zimmerman Family Collection, see Rhie and Thurman 1991, cat.71.

The fierce form of the bodhisattva Vajrapani is evoked in Tibetan Buddhism as a protector of the faith, Dharmapala, and remover of obstacles. His principal symbol, the vajra, the adamantine diamond sceptre, represents the power of compassion and counterpart to the ghanta bell held in the left hand representing wisdom. The union of Vajrapani and his consort embodies the fundamental Tibetan Buddhist aspiration of enlightenment through the practise of wisdom in countering negativity and compassion for the suffering of sentient beings.