440 - A FIGURE OF MAHAKALA WITH ATTENDANTS, NEPAL, 19TH CENTURY

A FIGURE OF MAHAKALA WITH ATTENDANTS, NEPAL, 19TH CENTURY Dimensions: Height 29 cm Wide 24 cm Depth 7 cm Weight: 3501 grams A forceful Nepalese devotional group centered by the wrathful protector Mahakala, seated before a flaming mandorla and accompanied by smaller attendant deities. His broad body is richly adorned with jewelry and a skull crown, while the fierce face is animated by bulging eyes and bared teeth. He holds the characteristic ritual implements of a wrathful protector, including a chopper and skull cup, and the subsidiary figures reinforce the dense, mandala-like composition. Mahakala is among the principal protectors of Vajrayana Buddhism, his terrifying appearance understood not as malevolence but as the concentrated energy that destroys obstacles and defends the Dharma. The group is modeled in a composite medium with a dark surface and surviving reddish pigment, details that heighten the dramatic relief of the flames, lotus base and figures. Wear and losses are consistent with age and devotional use.