Provenance:
Spink & Son Ltd., London, 1978
Sotheby’s and Rossi & Rossi, New York
American Private Collection, acquired in 1999
Published:
Spink & Son Ltd., Indian and South East Asian Art, London, 1978, pp. 26-27, no. 61
Robert A. F. Thurman and David Weldon, Sacred Symbols: The Ritual Art of Tibet, Sotheby’s and Rossi & Rossi exhibition catalogue, New York, 1999, pp. 104-105, cat. no. 47
In ancient Indo-Tibetan cosmology the crocodilian sea-monsters with elephant-like trunks (makara) are believed to balance the universe on their backs as they move through the cosmic ocean. They act as mounts (vahana) for deities and as guardians of triumphal arches, temple gates, and waterspouts. Indeed, these fabulous creatures would have adorned the upper section of a massive arch (prabha) such as the magnificent gilt-copper repoussé throne-back at Kyangbu made before 1076, now lost.[1]
Photographs taken at the monastery by Fosco Mairani in 1937 show similar gilt-copper makara emerging from cosmic waters with bared teeth and raised trunks standing on the crossbars of the throne back, with Garuda and naga water spirits above. Such temple structures benefited from the ease of installation of relatively light-weight copper repoussé panels, while providing the visual impact of a large expanse of gilded metal. Newar craftsmen were proficient in copper repoussé work, a technique mastered by at least the early eleventh century: a Nepalese gilt copper Vishnu and Garuda panel is dated by inscription to 1004 C.E.[2]
A Newar hand is evident in these superb examples, with their exquisite, deeply-wrought scrolling design and animated makara heads. Remarkably-similar makara and scrollwork design is depicted on thirteenth-century Tibetan paintings done by Newar artists, such as the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Green Tara and the set of three Tathagata in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Philadelphia Museum of Art.[3]
1 Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Hong Kong, 2001, Vol. II, pp. 844-845
2 Pratapaditya Pal, Nepal: Where the Gods are Young, 1975, p. 131, cat. no 79, illus. p. 109
3 Steven M. Kossak and Jane Casey Singer, Sacred Visions: Early Painting from Central Tibet, New York, 1998, pp. 138-146, cat. nos. 36, 37
