Beschreibung:

A VERY RARE AND IMPORTANT IMPERIAL KESI SIX-ARM MAHAKALA THANGKA
QING DYNASTY, 17TH CENTURY
A VERY RARE AND IMPORTANT IMPERIAL KESI SIX-ARM MAHAKALA THANGKA QING DYNASTY, 17TH CENTURY The thangka is finely woven in the centre with the ferocious black figure of the Six-Arm Mahakala of Wisdom shown trampling Ganesh and holding a kapala and a kartrika in his primary hands, as well as further attributes of skull-shaped prayer beads, a trident, a damaru drum and a vajra rope in his subsidiary hands. He is adorned with jewellery, a five-skull crown and a garland of skulls, and wears an elephant hide draped over his shoulders, a billowing blue scarf and a tiger skin around his hips. Above him is the seated figure of the Buddha Vajradhara, flanked by two Gelugpa monks, one representing Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelugpa monastic school. Below the Black Mahakala is the White Six-Arm Mahakala of Wisdom and the deities of his entourage including a four-armed aspect of Lha Mo mounted on a white horse. This central panel is within a narrow red border and an outer field of dense multicolored clouds interspersed with auspicious objects and populated with numerous black birds and various animals, as well as with the stylised incantation ‘Om’ in gold thread within a red circle positioned directly above the head of a special red Garuda deity flanked by two small flying Garudas, two nagas with human heads and torsos, two makaras in the upper section and an offering of cones of butter-flour on a gold tray in the bottom section. 30 3/4 x 15 in. (78 x 38 cm.)