Carlton Rochell Asian Art

Mandala of Shakya Simha

Tibet
Late 14th century
Distemper and gold highlights on cotton canvas
33 1/8 by 29 1/8 in. (84.2 by 74 cm)

Provenance:
Rossi & Rossi, London
European Private Collection, acquired in 1993

This painting depicts the mandala of Shakyamuni Buddha in the form of Shakya Simha, as described in the Vajravali (Adamantine Garland) treatise by Abhayakaragupta (d. 1125), in which the Indian pandit compiled the mandala practice of esoteric Buddhist deities in extensive iconographic detail.[1]

The painting is one of numerous mandalas known from the same series that remains amongst the finest and most important Tibetan works of art from the second half of the fourteenth century. Paintings from the series were first published and recognized as masterpieces by Robert Burawoy in his seminal 1978 Paris exhibition “Peintures du monastère de Nor,” which featured four of the mandalas.[2] At that time the paintings were thought to be from Ngor monastery, but current scholarship suggests a provenance of Shalu is likely. Paintings from the set are preserved in museum and private collections worldwide, and their historical importance has been documented by scholars including Pratapaditya Pal,[3] Steven M. Kossak and Jane Casey Singer,[4] Amy Heller,[5] John C. Huntington and Dina Bangdel,[6] Jane Casey,[7] Steven Kossak,[8] and Jeff Watt.[9] Each of the mandalas depict Lama Dampa Sonam Gyaltsen (1312-1375) at the center of the upper register, suggesting that the cycle of mandalas is dedicated to him. Lama Dampa was a student and patron of the celebrated scholar Buton Rinchen Drup (1290-1364), the eleventh abbot of Shalu monastery. Watt suggests the paintings may have been dedicated to Lama Dampa by his devoted student Chen-nga Chenpo (1310-1370).

The series is the most extensive of all Tibetan Vajravali mandala sets from the fourteenth century. Each example is designed and painted with the same vibrant palette and exquisite attention to detail. While the overall format and dimension of the paintings is the same throughout the series, the iconography of the deity represented dictates the final composition of each work. Here, Shakya Simha is seated on his crouching white snow-lion surrounded by an entourage of deities within the mandala palace. Unlike many in the series there are no charnel grounds depicted. In their place a ring of fabulous Vedic planetary deities encircles the palace. Buddhas within scrolling vine appear in the quadrants outside the palace. A Sakya lineage is depicted in the upper register, and deities and wealth gods in the lower register accompany the donor monk seated next to an offering table. This highly-important Tibetan painting retains its original blue silk fishtail-shaped mounts and resist-dyed silk veils.

1 See Jeff Watt, https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=1556
2 Robert Burawoy, Peintures du monastère de Nor, Paris, 1978
3 Pratapaditya Pal, Tibetan Paintings: A Study of Tibetan Thangkas, Eleventh to Nineteenth Centuries, Basel, 1984, and Tibet: Tradition and Change, Albuquerque, 1997, pp. 146-147
4 Steven M. Kossak and Jane Casey Singer, Sacred Visions: Early Paintings from Central Tibet, New York, 1998, pp. 163-164
5 “The Vajravali Mandala of Shalu and Sakya: The Legacy of Buton (1290-1364)” in Orientations, Hong Kong, May 2003, pp. 69-73
6 John C. Huntington and Dina Bangdel, The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art, Serindia, 2003, pp. 308-312
7 Jane Casey in Divine Presence, Barcelona, 2003, p. 148
8 Steven M. Kossak, Painted Images of Enlightenment: Early Tibetan Thangkas, 1050-1450, Mumbai, 2010, pp. 107-109
9 Jeff Watt, https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=2083
10 Ibid.

Carlton Rochell Asian Art

Maitreya in Tushita Heaven

Pakistan, ancient region of Gandhara
Circa 3rd century
Schist
9 by 15 in. (22 by 38 cm.)

Provenance:
Sotheby’s, London, June 5, 1989, no. 133, cover illus.
Bumper Development Corporation Collection, Canada, 1989-2017
Bonhams, New York, March 16, 2021, no. 322
New York Private Collection

Exhibited:
On loan to the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, 1989-2015

This finely carved relief panel depicts Maitreya (“The Benevolent One”), the future Buddha, shown enthroned in Tushita Heaven as a bodhisattva awaiting the moment of his final rebirth. Seated beneath an elaborately-rendered baldachin, Maitreya occupies the compositional and symbolic center of the scene, his monumental presence emphasized by symmetrical framing elements and hierarchical scale. His calm, idealized features, carefully-articulated drapery, and poised bearing reflect the Gandharan synthesis of Indic religious iconography with Hellenistic sculptural naturalism.

Flanking him are two attendant bodhisattvas, one seated on a distinctive wicker stool—an iconographic motif common in Gandharan art that signals both status and ascetic refinement—while others stand in attitudes of reverence. Above, winged putti fan the central figure, standing on the capitals of columns that rise behind a pair of lions, whose vigilant presence reinforces the protective and regal character of Maitreya’s throne.

The architectural setting is rendered with remarkable narrative richness and spatial complexity. Thatched and leaf-covered balconies, supported by beams intricately carved on their undersides, frame the upper register of the relief, evoking a celestial palace environment. These balconies are populated by figures identified as fortunate beings reborn in Tushita Heaven, who observe and participate in the scene. Their varied postures and gestures introduce a lively sense of movement and human engagement, enhancing the dramatic immediacy of the composition. In the upper right corner, a woman prepares to scatter flowers from an arched balcony, a ritual gesture of devotion that underscores the sacred status of Maitreya and the atmosphere of celestial celebration. The careful integration of architectural motifs and narrative detail reflects Gandharan sculptors’ sophisticated command of spatial illusion and compositional balance, informed by Greco-Roman traditions of relief carving.

Within the broader context of Gandharan art, this panel exemplifies the region’s distinctive approach to Buddhist narrative and devotional imagery. Gandhara, situated at the crossroads of South Asia, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean world, developed a highly-syncretic visual language during the early centuries of the 1st millennium, blending Hellenistic naturalism with Buddhist symbolic and doctrinal concerns. The use of classical architectural elements, putti, and perspectival structuring reveals a deep engagement with Greco-Roman models, while the iconography of Maitreya in Tushita Heaven reflects Mahayana doctrinal developments and devotional practices centered on hope for future salvation. Such narrative reliefs likely adorned stupas and monastic complexes, serving both didactic and contemplative functions. As such, this panel not only demonstrates the technical and artistic sophistication of Gandharan workshops but also offers valuable insight into the evolving religious imagination and intercultural exchanges that shaped early Buddhist art.

Carlton Rochell Asian Art

Vasudhara

Nepal
12th/13th century
Gilt-copper alloy
Height: 6½ in. (16.5 cm)

Provenance:
Zimmerman Family Collection

Published:
Pratapaditya Pal, “The Zimmerman Collection of Nepali Art,” Arts of Asia, September-October 1974
Pratapaditya Pal, Art of the Himalayas: Treasures from Nepal and Tibet, American Federation of Arts exhibition catalogue, 1991, no. 12

This luminous gilt-copper alloy image of Vasudhara, the Buddhist goddess of wealth, fertility, and spiritual abundance, embodies the refined elegance and devotional intimacy characteristic of medieval Nepalese sculpture. Seated in relaxed lalitasana on a lotus base, the goddess radiates serene benevolence, her supple body animated by sensuous modeling and rhythmic compositional balance. Her multiple arms, delicately poised in symbolic gestures, hold attributes associated with prosperity, generosity, and fecundity, while her gently-smiling countenance conveys an inward stillness that invites contemplation. The softly-burnished gilding, combined with precise chasing and subtle gemstone inlays, enhances the sculpture’s visual warmth, evoking both material splendor and transcendent grace.

The figure exemplifies the extraordinary achievements of Newar metalworkers during the Licchavi and early Malla periods, when Nepal emerged as a major artistic center of the Himalayan world. Drawing upon Indian Pala prototypes while cultivating a distinctive local aesthetic, Newar artists developed a sculptural idiom marked by supple naturalism, elaborate ornamentation, and technical virtuosity in lost-wax casting. The present image reflects this synthesis through its elegant proportions, fluid contours, and meticulous surface detail. The restrained dynamism of the pose, together with the luminous gilded finish, suggests a work created not merely for visual admiration, but for sustained ritual engagement, in which divine presence and material form converge.

Carlton Rochell Asian Art

Ekavira Vajrabhairava

Tibet
Early 17th century
Distemper on cloth
42½ by 30¼ in. (108 x 77 cm)

Provenance:
Collection of Richard R. and Magdalena Ernst

Published:
David Jackson, A History of Tibetan Painting, Wien, 1996, p. 187, pl. 27

The blue, buffalo-headed Yamantaka is ithyphallic and without consort in his Ekavira Vajrabhairava manifestation, with nine faces, sixteen legs, and thirty-four arms, and holding a flayed elephant skin cape at his back and a panoply of ritual implements.

He is adorned with human skulls and bone jewelry, snakes, and a garland of severed heads, and he stands in pratyalidha trampling naked humans, fierce animals, and angry birds, with Brahmanical deities lying prone on a lotus pedestal resting on mountainous landscape and an aureole of flames behind representing pristine awareness.

Ekavira Vajrabhairava – Tibet – Artworks-Items – Carlton Rochell
Vajradhara above is flanked by Yama and Nairatmya, multi-armed forms of Krishna Yamari astride buffalo, and a lineage of Indian adepts and Tibetan Sakya-order hierarchs. Mounted Brahmanical dikpala guardians appear below, including Indra on his elephant to the right, four-armed Agni on a ram beneath, Ishana on a black bull, blue Yama holding a skull staff and riding a buffalo, Bhudevi on her black sow, blue Nirrti on a naked dark-skinned zombie, Brahma on a goose, Varuna holding the serpent, Vayu on a gazelle, and Yaksha on a horse.

David Jackson has identified the final teacher depicted in the Sakya lineage surrounding Vajrabhairava as the 13th abbot of Ngor monastery, Drangti Panchen Namkha Pelzang (1535—1602),[1] thus suggesting a Ngor-monastery provenance for the painting and a date of around 1600. The red-painted border with gold floral design is typical of Sakya-order thangkas from this period, such as a circa-1600 Kurukulla in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.[2]

[1] Jackson, op. cit.
[2] Pratapaditya Pal, Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure, Chicago, 2003, p. 259, pl. 171

Carlton Rochell Asian Art

Kalacakra

Tibet
18th century
Gilt-copper alloy with pigment
Height: 13 3/8 in. (34 cm)

Provenance:
Clarice Goldstone Collection
Rossi & Rossi
New York Private Collection

The subject of this splendid gilt-copper alloy image is Kalacakra, The Wheel of Time. Kalacakra is one of the principal deities of the Anuttarayoga tantras, the final phase of Esoteric Buddhist literature that arose in north India during the medieval period. The highly-complex literature associated with the practice of Kalacakra dates to around the end of the tenth century and was first translated into Tibetan in the early eleventh century.

Carlton Rochell Asian Art

Taklung Abbot Kuyalwa with his Three Lineages

Tibet
Mid-13th century
Distemper on cloth
20½ x 15 in. (52 by 38 cm)

Provenance:
American Private Collection

Published:
Jane Casey Singer, “Early Thangkas: Eleventh-Thirteenth Centuries,” in Pratapaditya Pal ed., On The Path to Void: Buddhist Art of the Tibetan Realm, Mumbai, 1996, p. 194, pl. 12
David P. Jackson, Mirror of the Buddha, Early Portraits from Tibet, Rubin Museum exhibition catalogue, New York, 2011, fig. 4.16

Carlton Rochell Asian Art

Mohra of Shiva

North India, Himachal Pradesh
6th/7th century
Brass
Height: 7½ in. (19 cm)

Provenance:
Arnold H. Lieberman, New York
The Kronos Collections, acquired in 1995

Published:
Pratapaditya Pal, Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure, Art Institute of Chicago exhibition catalogue, 2003, cat. no. 53

Exhibited:
“Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure,” Art Institute of Chicago, April 5–August 17, 2003; Smithsonian Institution, October 18, 2003–January 11, 2004

This brass relief represents the Hindu god Shiva, the facial features worn by the repeated use of ritual unguents. His face with full lips with the ends of a moustache projecting upwards from the corners of his mouth, petite nose, and delicate almond-shaped eyes beneath arched eyebrows. Shiva is wearing a double-stranded necklace with large circular jewels, two distinct ear ornaments in the form of a beaded ring and an antelope-skin respectively suspended in his pendulous earlobes, and simple crown with ribbed diadem decorated with trilobate foliate ornaments. His hair is arranged in rows of spiral ringlets on top of his head which cascade into tiers of sausage curls behind his ears.

Masks have a long, continuous history in India, beginning with terracotta examples excavated from Indus Valley cities (at their zenith circa 2600-1900 B.C.E). People in Rajasthan and Maharashtra continue to worship metal faces. Depictions of Shiva and Devi in the form of brass or silver mohras, however, are peculiar to the Himalayan regions. Extant masks from the post-Gupta period are extremely rare and were cast in the Chamba, Kulu, and Sutlej valley regions of Himachal Pradesh.

See M. Postel, A. Neven, and K. Mankodi, Antiquities of Himachal, 1985, 189 & fig 292; S. Kramrisch, Manifestations of 
Siva, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1980, p.102; H. Hartel,
 Museum for Indische Kunst, Berlin, Katalog, 1976, p. 182; and J. Guy, Indian Temple Sculpture, London, Victoria & Albert Museum, 2007, p. 146, pl. 164.

Carlton Rochell Asian Art

Ritual Objects (Gyentsog)

Tibet
Circa 18th century
Distemper on cloth
19 3/8 x 25 7/8 in. (49.3 x 65.1 cm)

Provenance:
Christian Humann (Pan-Asian Collection), 1974-1982
Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, New York, 1982-1993
European Private Collection, acquired in 1993

In the tradition of gyentsog (sets of ornaments) painting, the central deity is evoked by the portrayal of his/her vacant garments, ornaments, and attributes. Here, for example, a voluminous robe, flayed tiger-skin dhoti, garland of heads, and five-skull tiara indicate the Dharmapala Mahakala. In addition to Mahakala, smaller empty robes on his left and right suggest the inclusion of two additional dharmapalas. The deities are surrounded by a profusely-dispersed display of ritual objects, including representations of the eight auspicious symbols (ashtamangala): endless knot (srivatsa), lotus flower, pair of goldfish, dharmachakra, white conch shell, jeweled parasol, treasure vase, and victory banner. Skull-cups and other bowls with offerings and flaming tormas are depicted in the registers below. A group of musicians and dancers cavorts in a frenzied manner in the lower section, some with their heads turned to display their gold hair ornaments. In the background at the bottom, a variety of lively and somewhat menacing animals including jackals, elephants, tigers, mules, lions, yaks, leopards, stags, horses, peacocks, and parrots, amongst others, add to the overall composition. Bordering the scene at the top is a frieze with eviscerated human entrails, flayed skins, and severed human heads. A small figure of Garuda with wings spread hovers nearby.

Carlton Rochell Asian Art

Manuscript Cover with Prajnaparamita, Bhaishajyaguru, and Vairocana

Tibet
14th century
Polychrome and gilding on wood
10½ x 27 in. (26.5 x 68.6 cm)
Provenance:
European Private Collection

Carlton Rochell Asian Art

Mahapratisara

Northeastern India, Bihar
Pala Dynasty, 9th century
Black stone
Height: 27½ in. (68.6 cm)
Inscribed with the Buddhist creed (‘ye dharma hetu…’)

Provenance:
Private Collection, Los Angeles, acquired in 1968

Mahapratisara is the principal goddess in the Pañcaraksā group, and her worship is widely prevalent amongst the Tantric Buddhists. She is represented either singly or in a mandala in the company of four other Pañcaraksā deities. She is generally yellow when worshipped independently and white when worshipped in the mandala of the five goddesses. This remarkable sculpture portrays Mahapratisara, the principal Raksha goddess, with her distinctive eight arms adorned with various symbolic attributes. In her central pair of hands, she holds the sutra of perfected wisdom (known as the Prajnaparamita sutra) in her left hand, while her right hand is open in a gesture of granting wishes (varada mudra). Her additional hands carry an axe, trident, lasso, sword, discus, and a three-pronged vajra, emphasizing her role as one of Buddhism’s most adept and well-equipped guardians.

Devotees hold the five Raksha goddesses in high regard as worldly protectors, each with specific functions to alleviate fear and protect against harm from sources such as dangerous animals, diseases, and natural disasters. These goddesses are also associated with mantras, special verbal utterances from sutras. Among these mantras, Mahapratisara’s, known as the Mahapratisara-Mahavidyarajni, is the most comprehensive, making her widely popular across Asia. Any follower, whether a monk or a lay devotee, can invoke her protection, often in the form of an amulet or an amulet containing her written incantation. Consequently, stone depictions of her divine persona are exceedingly rare.

This representation of the eight-armed protector goddess exhibits distinct stylistic characteristics reminiscent of 9th/10th-century sculptures from the early Pala period. A related example can be found at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1991.108).

Carlton Rochell Asian Art

SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA

West Tibet
15th century
Gilt-copper alloy with copper, silver, and turquoise
Height: 12 5/8 in. (32.1 cm)

Provenance:
David R. Nalin Collection
American Private Collection

Published:
Kerin, M., Artful Beneficence: Highlights from the David R. Nalin Himalayan Art Collection
Rubin Museum of Art exhibition catalogue, New York, 2009, cat. no. 11 and back cover illus.

The base of the image is as compelling as the figure itself. The upper and lower horizontal registers of this stepped base are incised with a flower motif and the eight auspicious symbols, respectively. Between these sections, intricate grillwork features a figure on bended knee at the central projection. This figure, dressed in Central Asian-style garb with a long tunic billowing outward on either side, raises his arms as if supporting the structure. He is framed by two ornate pillars. The detailed grillwork continues with two lions positioned on either side of the central projection, each set back in its own section. The design of this base, with its Central Asian-like
figure at the center, resonates with sculptural bases from 8th to 12th-century Western trans-Himalayan Buddhist art.

The long inscription incised on the back of the throne base provides the names of the patrons and the artist, as well as the purpose of the commission. The first line describes the Buddha as the wise, skillful, and compassionate one, born into the Sakya clan, with a body like Mount Meru adorned in gold. The second line names the patrons: a woman, Norby Gyelmo, and three men, Chipa Sherab, Apa Gyeltsen, and the “tenth master,” Dorje Dradul. According to the inscription, the sculpture was “manufactured for the sake of obtaining Buddhahood after this so-called ‘inferior’ life.” It concludes with a dedication of the virtue gained from the statue’s creation to all beings, so they may attain Buddhahood quickly. The artist is identified as Kun dga’ chos, “the lineage holder of skillful artisans.”

The throne base design, along with the silver and copper inlay work, suggests that a craftsman from Western Tibet may have created this piece. The term “A pha,” used in the inscription to identify one of the patrons, may be a Western Tibetan regionalism meaning “noble one,” further supporting a Western Tibetan provenance.

Carlton Rochell Asian Art

THE MIRACLE AT SHRAVASTI

Tibet
17th century
Distemper on cloth
35 by 24 3/8 in. (89 by 62 cm)

Provenance:
The Richard R. & Magdalena Ernst Collection
Sotheby’s, New York, March 22, 2018, no. 959

Probably one of a series of paintings, this elaborate and skillfully-painted thangka depicts one episode of the Miracles at Shravasti, which are traditionally celebrated in Tibet during the Great Festival of Miracles in the first two weeks of the Tibetan New Year. The celebration praises the defeat of six Brahmanical or non-Buddhist teachers (tirthika) by Sakyamuni Buddha. This thangka appears to narrate the eighth miracle, with the naga offering a lotus tree of a thousand petals with myriad emanated Buddhas expounding the dharma while Vajrapani dispels the heretics depicted in the lower left of the painting.

Sakyamuni is depicted with his right hand raised in vitarka mudra and left in dhyana mudra. He is surrounded by a multitude of Buddhas within a rainbow realm and seated on a flower rising from a lotus pond with naga in attendance. Gods, mythical animals, monks, and dignitaries are in obeisance to each side, with a stupa on an outcrop below

The Tibetan inscription can be translated as follows:
The nagas offered a lotus tree (…) with as many as one thousand petals (…) was seated in the heart of that lotus. Then, many similar lotuses appeared to the right and left of the Blessed One (bhagavan). On these also were seated many emanations of the Buddha. [In the same way], Buddha Avatamsaka manifested himself as far as the Akanishtha realm. Upon seeing the miracle, [King] Prasenajit, the queen’s retinue, hundreds of thousands of spiritual heirs who had come from different lands, and hundreds of thousands of celestial gods felt overjoyed.

The Tibetan inscription beneath may be translated as follows:
Yaksha Vajrapani having sent [dusty] wind gusts and torrential rain, such that the magical pavilion did not come into the path of their sight, the heretics ran away.