Property from a European Private CollectionAn exceptional gilt-copper alloy figure of Mahakala inlaid with semi-precious stonesDensatil monastery, Tibet, early 15th centurythe fragmentary roundel depicting Mahakala cast in high relief, the guardian deity with a jewel-encrusted crown and earrings, a flayed human skin tied by its arms and legs around his neck, a serpent necklace with its head entwined with its tail at the left shoulder, a string of severed heads, a tiger-skin dhoti with paws tied at the front, a belt with jewelled swags and hangings, holding a karttrka and kapala, standing in the militant alidha posture trampling a supine figure on a lotus pedestal, and surrounded by an entourage of deities, all enclosed within a massive tendril of scrolling vineHimalayan Art Resources item no. 13865.53 x 48 x 10.5 cm, 20⅞ by 18⅞ by 4⅛ in.__________________________________________________________________________Collection particulière européenneStatue de Mahakala en alliage de cuivre doré incrustée de pierres semi-précieuses, monastère de Densatil, Tibet, début du XVe siècle__________________________________________________________________________歐洲私人收藏十五世紀初 藏傳丹薩替寺鎏金銅合金嵌寶石大黑天立像HAR編號13865来源: Galerie Deydier, Paris, 28th December 1994.__________________________________________________________________________戴克成藝廊，巴黎，1994年12月28日文学背景: Jean-Luc Estournel, “About the 18 stupas and other treasures once at the Densatil monastery”, asianart.com, 2020, fig. 203.__________________________________________________________________________Jean-Luc Estournel，〈關於丹薩替寺十八座佛塔及珍寶〉， asianart.com，2020年专文: A different aspect of this standing, two-armed form of Mahakala holding the flaying knife and skull bowl is depicted on another Densatil roundel cast in similar style, “About the 18 stupas and other treasures once at the Densatil monastery”, fig. 237. Both examples would have formed part of the elaborate pedestals of Densatil monuments that consisted of large scrolling vine motifs encircling wealth and protector deities and flanked at either end by the iconic kneeling figures of Nagaraja, as seen in Pietro Francesco Mele’s photographs taken in 1948, see Olaf Czaja and Adriana Proser, eds., Golden Visions of Densatil: A Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, Asia Society, 2014, fig. 16.Compare the foliate designs of the scrolling vine, the earring and crown type, the style of the lotus pedestal, the posture of the deity and physiognomic detail of an early fifteenth century Shri Devi roundel in the Smithsonian Institute (acc. no. S1997.27), ibid, cat. no. 15. Compare also the scrolling foliate designs and the style of the lotus pedestal with the Nagaraja roundel in this collection, lot 171.__________________________________________________________________________本件鎏金銅大黑天圓形飾片配戴寶石王冠及耳飾，身披人皮，著虎皮褲，虎爪繫腰，四肢掛人頭鏈，左肩垂繞頭尾相纏之蛇形鏈，腰繫珠寶及掛飾，手持儀式刀及顱骨碗，並在蓮花座上以戰士姿態踩踏仰臥之人，身旁護法圍繞，整體被巨大的藤蔓卷圍繞。可見另一件風格相似的丹薩替寺浮雕圓狀殘片，同樣展現大黑天手持剝皮刀及顱骨碗，見Jean-Luc Estournel〈關於丹薩替寺十八座佛塔及珍寶〉，asianart.com，2020年，圖237。根據義大利攝影師皮耶托·佛朗西斯科·梅爾於1948年拍攝於丹薩替寺照片中可知，兩件殘片均為丹薩替寺巨型底座的一部分，飾以守護神及象徵財富之巨型藤蔓捲紋，另有龍尊王像跪於兩端，見Olaf Czaja和Adriana Proser，《丹薩替寺金色願景：藏傳佛教寺院》，亞洲協會，2014年，圖16。比較史密森學會收藏之十五世紀早期丹薩替寺護法神（acc. no. S1997.27），其體態近似，藤蔓卷飾、耳飾及皇冠風格雷同，展於紐約亞洲協會舉辦之丹薩替寺展覽演討會中，同上，編號15。本尊之藤蔓卷飾及蓮花座亦可與同收藏拍品171號相較。