A POLYCHROMED WOOD TORANA WITH TWELVE BODHISATTVASTIBET, CIRCA 13TH CENTURY Himalayan Art Resources item no.16834 32 in. (81.3 cm) high 西藏 約十三世紀 木質彩繪十二菩薩陀蘭納門 This intricately carved wood torana serves as a backdrop for a standing Buddha or bodhisattva sculpture. Theposition has a flame border and is populated by twelve bodhisattvas seated in alcoves. The surround of the plain central throne back is decorated with an iconographic formula known as 'The Six Ornaments' interspersed with meandering swells of vegetation. This formula generallyprises—from top to bottom—pairs of elephants, followed by mythical lions, horses or kinnaras (the latter in this case), sarabhas (a small boy riding a flying horse), makaras , nagas , and a garuda at the apex. Remarkably preserved, the torana is one of few objects of its kind to have survived to this day, making it extremely rare. Traces of red, black, and blue pigment, remain, as well as a delightful speckled pattern on the makaras . The style of the intertwined vegetal curlicues and flame border are exemplary of master Newari woodcarvers who were trained in the Pala Buddhist art of Northeastern India and instrumental in its transfer to Tibetan monasteries in the 13th century.pare the palette and low-relief carving of the vegetal sprays in a circa 13th-century wood manuscript cover published in Rossi & Rossi, Early Tibetan Manuscript Covers , London, 1996, no.14. Similar treatment of 'The Six Ornament' design can be observed in 13th-century thangkas of Tathagatas held by American museums (HAR 101355, 101356 & 101357). And a roughly contemporaneous torana , albeit modest by contrast to the present lot, stands behind a wood sculpture of Pagpa Lokeshvara in the Museum Rietberg, Zurich (von Schroeder-Imhof, Schritte zur Erkenntnis , Zurich, 2006, pp.68-9, no.14). Provenance: Private West Coast Collection since 1980's