TIBET, 15TH-16TH CENTURY

Although Tibetan Buddhist images cast in bronze are perhaps more well-known, the use of stone for small portable votive works was also well-established in the Himalayan regions from as early as the twelfth century. Typically, such works were carved in openwork with integral aureoles and bases, as is the case in the present image. The nature of the stone meant that a beautiful, high polish could be achieved, granting the work a surface as luminous as any bronze image. The present figure depicts the form of Mahakala known as Panjarnata, or Lord of the Pavilion, the protector deity for the Shri Hevajra cycle of tantras; he is distinguished by the staff supported in the crooks of his elbows. The back of the figure has been inscribed with the mantra, Om A Hum (although the character for Om is now missing), and the mantra Om Mahakala Hum Pe has been been carved into the sides and bottom of the back of the aureole.