
Mark Rasmussen
International Director
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US$80,000 - US$120,000
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International Director
西藏 約十三/十四世紀 持橛大黑天唐卡
In this very rare form of Mahakala, Legden wears a heavy cloak and felt boots redolent of indigenous Tibetan spirit deities. Crows and wild dogs surround him as he sits on a double-rail bench before a prone figure and a flaming mandorla. Vajrasattva and his consort reside immediately above, while Vajradhara initiates the row of lineage masters in the top register.
The vibrantly patterned black tunic recalls the style favored in Central and Southern Tibet under the Newari artistic influence during the 13th and 14th century. Two Mahakalas from Densatil depict Mahakala clad in this heavy cloak, a sculpture in the Rubin Museum of Art and a relief panel in a private collection (HAR#65443 & 32079). The collar on the shoulders is also shared by a thangka of Vaishravana reputedly acquired by Tucci at Ngor monastery in 1939 and now preserved in the National Museum of Oriental Art, Rome (inv.966/798), see Klimburg-Salter, Discovering Tibet, New York, 2015, p.192. Another related thangka of Legden Mahakala is in the Royal Ontario Museum (HAR no.77564). Lastly, a seated four-armed Mahakala within a similar pointed-flame back panel is published in Pal, Tibetan Painting, London, p.79.
Provenance
Private European Collection, 1990s
Pantheon Worldwide, Hong Kong, 2015
Collection of a Private European Family