A Thankga Depicting Raudrantaka Mahakala, Tibet, 19th Century

Auction Closed

September 20, 05:33 PM GMT

Estimate

30,000 - 50,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Property of the Bothwell Family Collection

A Thankga Depicting Raudrantaka Mahakala

Tibet, 19th Century

55 by 37⅛ in. (139.7 by 94.3 cm)

the deity Killer of Rudra in red, with barred teeth and curled tongue, wearing skull crown, holding an offering vessel at heart level in his hand and brandishing a spear in his right hand, wearing colorful robes of silk embroidery, standing on a lotus base over a prostrate figure engulfed in a halo of fire, surrounded by lineage figures, Chakrasamvara, Panjarnatha Mahakala, Brahmarupa Mahkala and other protective deities

Himalayan Art Resources item no. 13705.

James Bothwell, acquired in Nepal, 1960s.

Compare the style of a large 18th/19th century Tibetan thangka depicting Chaturbhuja Mahakala sold in these rooms 1st April 2005, lot 84, (HAR no. 88588). Mahakala wearing robes and boots and with the same attributes of covered bowl and jewel-tipped club is depicted on a black ground painting in the Essen Collection now at Museum der Kulturen Basel, see Gerd-Wolfgang Essen and Tsering Tashi Thingo, Die Götter des Himalaya, München, 1989, p. 208, cat. no. 127 (HAR no. 3314486). The inscription reads "mgon po dmar" which translates as 'red protector.'