Mahakala

CHINA; Ming dynasty

Mahakala is a protector of Buddhism with a number of different functions and forms. This is the two-armed form and is blue-black in color. The sculpture has a five-skull crown with a Buddha image at its crest. The broad face has three staring eyes and features a mustache, eyebrows that stand up like flames, and a fringe beard. The body is draped with a garland of fifty severed heads and various tasseled beaded ornaments that swirl about the figure. Mahakala’s waist is adorned with a netted belt, while the semicircle of a stole that loops from behind his back to sway about the body, creating the effect of a nimbus and aureole. The protector figure raises a silver flaying knife in the right hand and balances a skull cup on the left hand. The short legs of the figure are balanced on a human corpse with knees bent. The gilding on this rare iron sculpture makes a distinctive contrast. The figure is supported on an oval lotus pedestal inscribed with 1403 as the year of completion.