Dali Kingdom, Mahakala

12th century, Dali Kingdom, Mahakala, iron (or copper alloy?), private collection, Asian Arts lot 22, 6th December 2007, Sotheby’s (Paris).

We have seen a few other Dali Kingdom sculptures of the four-arm Mahakala standing (including a very similar one on Bonhams ). He wears a pleated skirt-like lower garment and a tiger skin knotted over it, sandals, a celestial scarf flowing behind his head like a nimbus, a skull crown with an effigy of Vairocana, a garland of skulls, a necklace with severed heads, snake ornaments.  He holds a skull cup in his main left hand, a missing attribute, (a ritual staff, according to Mr Wilkinson’s notes on the Bonhams link), a rosary, and a drum in the remaining hands. This combination differs from the standing four-arm form in Nepal, India, and Tibet (i.e. a flaying knife and a skull cup in the main hands, a sword and a drum or a ritual staff in the remaining hands).

12th-13th century, Dali Kingdom, Mahakala, bronze with cold gold and red lacquer, 18 cm, private collection, Art d’Asie lot 369, 27th March 2023, Gazette Drouot

The above has the skull cup in his right hand, like another we saw on HAR, and he is seated with a leg pendent. For an example seated with both legs pendent see HAR .

Dali Kingdom, Guardian Kings

11th-12th century, Dali Kingdom (937-1253), Guardian Protector of the East, partially gilt arsenical bronze, 15,6 cm, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (USA).

Instead of holding a lute as usual, Dhritarashtra holds a bow and an arrow. He is seated on a prostrate figure (probably a yaksha) and wears a Mongolian armour, a Kirtimukha apron, thick felt boots, and a helmet topped with a lotus bud.

Probably 13th century, Dali Kingdom, Dhritarashtra, stone, from anan article on jstor by Angela F. Howard.

The Guardian of the East playing the lute and wearing the same type of helmet. According to the author of ‘The Dharani Pillar of Kunming, Yunnan, A Legacy of Esoteric Buddhism and Burial Rites of the Bai People in the Kingdom of Dali (937-1253)’, the figure under him is a yaksha threatened by a serpent.

Probably 13th century, Dali Kingdom, Vaishravana, stone, Dharani Pillar of Kunming, from Angela Howard’s above-said article.

Vaishravana, dressed in armour and sandals, standing on three figures. The author explains that the central figure supporting him is the Earth, assisted by two yakshas.

Dali Kingdom, wrathful figures (4)

12th-13th century, Dali Kingdom, Mahakala, gilt bronze, 43,5 cm, inventory nº y1969-109 at the Princeton University Art Museum (USA).

Mentioned in an essay by Zhang Yongkang on Bonhams along with a 50 cm gilt bronze Mahakala with nine heads, eighteen arms, and three legs at the Yunnan Provincial Museum, this rare form of the deity appears with wings and flanked by two attendants on a late 12th century silk painting by Zhang Shengwen, now at the National Museum in Taipei. He has two main pairs of hands (which is unusual), in which he holds a conch shell and a skull cup. His upper hands support a body stretched behind his first row of heads, his lower hands clutch a snake, the remaining left hands hold a drum, possibly a trisula on a long stick (missing here but featured on the painting), a vajra bell, a sphere, a toad; the remaining right hands hold a half-vajra on a flower (blue lily?), possibly another trisula, a severed head, what looks like a tusk or a horn, a tortoise. His nine heads, with flaming hair at the back, are topped with a half-vajra finial and adorned with skulls tied with snakes (a three-skull tiara for the main head, one skull for the others). He wears a human hide as an apron and is adorned with a necklace made of skulls, snake bracelets and anklets, and floral armbands. There is a skull under each of his three feet.

Probably 12th century, Dali Kingdom, Lokapala Vaishravana, gilt bronze, 45,5 cm, details and photo on  British Museum in London (UK).

The British Museum identifies him as the Guardian King Vaishravana (despite the absence of armour and felt boots or sandals). On this example, and the next two, he has no armbands, his necklace is made of severed heads tied with a snake, all the heads have a one-skull tiara bound with a snake.

(labelled ‘China, 1200-1299, Trailokyavijaya, gilt metal, Dali Kingdom, private collection’ on HAR

The same deity standing on a triangular base that is depicted on the painted silk scroll mentioned above.

12th-14th century, Dali Kingdom, bronze with traces of gilding, 41,9 cm, details from an article by Béla Kelényi on academia.eduand photo on HAR , item nº 70.0/ 7451 at the American Museum of National History in New York (USA). (Nowhere to be found on the AMNH website).

Compared with the previous works, the bell and the severed head are on the opposite side.

Circa 13th century?, China, (Dali Kingdom), Dharmapala, gilt bronze, 9 cm, Christie’s, 1976 lot 165 (London), Fig. 10 in the above-mentioned article by Béla Kelényi.

As to this smaller statue, the author of ‘The Choreography of Identities: a Peculiar Type of Statue from the Dali Kingdom’ mentions a horn and possibly a pestle in two of the right hands, a kila peg, a horn, and a globe in the left ones (difficult to identify on this photograph). We can see some large skulls strung around his neck.

Circa 14th century (or later?), Dali Kingdom, deity, copper with traces of gilding, 30,9 cm, Fig. 1 on Béla Kelényi , photo by Miklós Sulyok, Ferenc Hopp Museum of Asiatic Arts in Budapest (Hungary), inventory nº 4396.

The pointed hair, sharp facial features, and rather sharp contours depart from the style of the previous works, and are reminiscent of 18th century Chinese-style works. He wears a scarf with serpentine ends and has what looks like a trumpet made from a horn in one of his left hands and a tusk (?) on the opposite side.

Both Béla Kelény’s article and the HAR website include metal images of a nine-head and three-leg deity made in nearby Tibet, and/or China and possibly Mongolia during the 18th and 19th century, but they only have eight arms and they stand on a lotus pedestal.

Dali Kingdom, wrathful figures (3)

12th-13th century, Dali Kingdom, Mahakala, parcel-gilt bronze, 30,5 cm, private collection, photo on Koller

When standing, chaturbhuja Mahakala holds a flaying knife and a skull cup before his heart, a sword (broken in this case) and a drum (or a trident) in his upper hands.

The above wears a three-skull tiara, a cobra snake to tie his hair, and an effigy of a buddha (possibly Vairocana) on his head. He is further adorned with a short string of severed heads around his neck, a long one across his chest in the guise of a sacred cord, snakes, and bone ornaments. His pleated loin cloth is topped with a tiger skin (see photo of the back on the above link) and he also wears a scarf, and some sandals. The green stones used for his three eyes give him a ferocious appearance.

Song Dynasty, Dali Kingdom (or in the style of?), Mahakala, gilt bronze, 40 cm, private collection, photo on Yu-Jen

The same form of Mahakala, also with an effigy of a buddha (whose hand gesture corresponds to Vairocana) in his hair.

937-1253, Dali Kingdom, Yunnan Province, China, wrathful guardian, bronze, at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco (USA).

This irate yaksha figure adorned with snakes, possibly Varapani, holds what looks like a folded lasso in his left hand.

Circa 9th century, Nanzhao Kingdom, Yunnan province (738-902), Vajrapani, copper, 13,50 cm, at the gTsug Lakhang in Lhasa, inventory nº 162, photo and details on Ulrich von Schroeder

This earlier sculpture depicts wrathful Vajrapani brandishing a dagger with a vajra handle in his right hand and making a wrathful gesture (tarjani mudra) with the other while treading on a prostrate figure. He is adorned with snakes, one of them to tie his flaming hair, a celestial scarf is wound around his right arm, his short and tight-fitting dhoti is covered with a tiger skin. Judging by this work, the facial features so typical of wrathful figures from the Dali Kingdom have their origin in the earlier Nanzhao Kingdom.

Dali Kingdom, wrathful figures (2)

WISHING YOU ALL A HEALTHY AND JOYFUL 2022…

10th-12th century, Dali Kingdom, guardian, gilt bronze, private collection, photo on Sotheby’s

May this guardian repel disease with the sword he brandishes in his right hand and protect mankind from hunger, poverty, violence, and injustice with his shield!

13th century, Dali Kingdom, Mahakala, bronze, private collection, photo on Himalayan Art Resources

Since this is no small task, here is an extremely fierce four-arm Mahalaka to back him up. Adorned with a three-skull crown, a necklace with 5 severed heads, a sacred cord made with a few skulls strung on a long snake, snake earrings, bracelets and anklets, he holds a ritual staff and what looks like a singular vajra sceptre in his upper hands, a skull cup and a bell in the lower ones. He wears a short dhoti held in place with a long belt, a swirling scarf, and sandals.

Dali Kingdom, wrathful figures

The Dali Kingdom (937-1253) embraced the Buddhist faith already present in the area (now the Yunnan province of China). Apart from sculptures of buddhas and bodhisattvas with distinctive features (especially Avalokiteshvara), its workshops produced portable metal sculptures of wrathful deities cast in a unique style, somewhat reminiscent of works from nearby Tibet.

12th-13th century, Dali Kingdom, Mahakala, bronze, 41,5 cm, private collection, photo on Bonhams

This striking statue depicts Mahakala in his four-arm form, holding a rosary and a drum in his upper hands, a skull cup in his lower left hand, the right one in a position suggesting it once clutched a staff – rather than the expected flaying knife. He is adorned with snakes and jewellery, a three-skull tiara, a garland of severed heads, an effigy of a Vairocana in his hair (see close up on HAR ). He wears a tiger skin knotted over a skirt-like garment, a scarf, and sandals.

12th-13th century, Dali Kingdom, Mahakala, bronze with traces of gilding, 25 cm, private collection, photo on asianart.comand HAR

The same form of Mahakala but seated (and one arm missing), with similar features such as the muscular body, the shape of the face, the large size skulls on his tiara and heads on his garland, the pleated garment, and the sandals. A rear view on the HAR link shows three skulls on the back of the garland (rather than freshly severed heads).

Unlabelled (circa 12th century?, Mahakala?, gilt metal), Dali Kingdom, photo on HAR, at the Musée Guimet in Paris (France).

This four-arm figure also has an effigy of Vairocana in his hair. He holds a (broken) sword and a drum in his upper hands, a skull cup in the lower left hand, once again the implement in his lower right hand is missing. The buffalo on which he sits is not normally associated with Mahakala but the iconography corresponds to him (the reddish stepped throne is probably from a different period).

13th century, Dali Kingdom, Krishna Yamari, cast iron, at the Art Institute of Chicago (USA).

A rare example of Black Yamari (a form of Yamantaka) with six heads, six arms, and six legs, seated on a buffalo. He holds a sword and a lasso in his main hands, a vajra sceptre and a vajra stick in his remaining right hands, a skull cup and what may be a vajra bell in the remaining left hands.

12th-13th century, Dali Kingdom, Samvara, bronze with traces of gilding and red lacquer, private collection, photo on Christie’s

Samvara with four heads and twelve arms, standing alone on a single lotus base, his flaming hair decorated with the effigy of a buddha (traditionally Akshobhya). He holds the hide of an elephant in his upper arms, a drum, a vajra sceptre, a vajra bell, a (broken) vajra stick, and Brahma’s head (with four faces) in the others. The missing attributes are likely to be a skull cup, a flaying knife, an axe, a sword.

Nepal, rare sculptures – Malla period

13th century, Nepal, Kunzang Akor, gilt copper alloy, private collection, photo on Christie’s

This exceptional work depicts Kunzang Akor, one of the main Bon deities, identified through the Tibetan letter A on his chest, seated in the vajra position with both hands in the dhyana mudra. He is adorned with a tall foliate crown with rosettes, his chignon topped with a jewel, two necklaces, armbands and matching adornments worn around the shins, bracelets and anklets…

and rings on his thumbs with a floral design that match the longer necklace.

15th century, Nepal, Kathmandu valley, Esoteric Personification of the Vajra, copper with traces of gilding, 16,2 cm, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (USA).

This figure is seated with one leg raised and holding what may be a sheathed dagger in the left hand and the hilt of a (broken) weapon in the other. He has a third eye and fangs. There is a cavity in his rib cage at heart level.

A few Ladakhi crowns

As we saw in a previous post, some figures from Ladakh wear a low crown made of pointed leaves with a crescent moon shape between them. Here are some close ups.

possibly 11th century, Tabo monastery, painted clay.

10th-11th century, buddha Vairocana, painted clay, at Tabo Monastery.

11th century, Tabo monastery.

From India to Tibet via Nepal

9th century (Pala period), Eastern India, bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, copper, cold gold on face, private collection.

Avalokiteshvara is identified through the effigy of Amitabha in his headdress and the long-stem lotus in his left hand. His ankle-length dhoti is held in place with a belt. He wears a simple necklace, armbands and bracelets and a wide sash across his chest. The crown with very low panels and the tall chignon are typical of Pala India.

11th-12th century (Transitional period), Nepal, bodhisattva Manjushri, copper alloy with cold gold on the face, published by Carlton Rochell.

Manjushri holds a manuscript in his left hand while making a symbolical gesture with the other. His dress and jewellery are quite similar to the previous statue but the crown made of three tall triangular panels is typical of the Nepalese Transitional period.

Circa 13th century, Tibet, Amitayus (labelled ‘buddha Amitabha’), copper alloy with traces of gilding, published by Rossi & Rossi.

Amitayus holds a (missing) vase of longevity in his cupped hand. The very slender waist,  punched navel and this type of crown are common features of Thakuri/transitional sculptures which originated in Pala India and made their way to Tibet via the artists of Nepal.

Early sculptures from Tibet

7th-8th century, Tibet, Zhang Zhung Kingdom, twelve-armed Avalokiteshvara, brass, 23,2cm, at the Lima Lakhang of the Potala in Lhasa, inventory n º 1569, photo and details on Ulrich von Schroeder

Avalokiteshvara is identified through the seated buddha on his tall mitre-shaped crown and the antelope skin represented with incisions over his knee-length dhoti, wrapped around his waist rather than worn on his shoulders. He wears a sacred thread across the chest, but no jewellery. One of his left hands holds a manuscript, another holds a water pot.

7th-8th century, Tibet, Zhang Zhung Kingdom, Maitreya, brass with remains of gilding, 17 cm, at the Lima Lakhang of the Potala in Lhasa, inventory nº 1262, photo and details on Ulrich von Schroeder

This depiction of Maitreya has striking similarities with a brass statue from the Gilgit Kingdom (published previously), except for the face which looks quite different, partly because it has been painted. The artist was most likely of Kashmiri origin.

Circa 8th century, Tibet, Zhang Zhung Kingdom, Prajnaparamita, brass, 22 cm, at the Lima Lakhang of the Potala in Lhasa, inventory nº 742, photo and details on Ulrich von Schroeder

She is clutching a manuscript in her left hand while holding her (rather large) right hand in the fear-not gesture and displaying a ring on her little finger. Her armbands, anklets, and her hairstyle are unusual. She wears two necklaces and a cross-belt.