TIBET, 18TH-19TH CENTURY

This bronze figure of the six-armed Mahakala stands in a fierce posture on a prostrate figure of Ganesha, best known as a Hindu god, but in this context represents the delusion and worldly attachments that must be overcome to realize one’s innate potential for enlightenment. The present work is executed in a Tibeto-Chinese style, and it was likely produced by in a Beijing workshop for the many imperially-sponsored temples in the Qing capital. He holds a curved knife and skull cup in his primary hands and various implements in the others. He wears a tiger skin around his waist and is adorned with snakes, beaded jewelry, a garland of severed heads and a billowing sash. His wrathful demeanor is accentuated by bulging eyes and bared fangs. His flaming red hair is surmounted by a skull tiara. The traces of polychrome seems to be a later addition. Compare with an almost identical bronze figure of a six-armed Mahakala, likely produced in the same workshop, offered a Sotheby’s London, 4 November 2020, lot 154. Compare the ornaments and the style of the base with another Tibeto-Chinese-style figure of Mahakala sold at Christie’s New York, 15 March 2017, lot 203.