EMBOSSED, GILDED AND POLYCHROME COPPER MANDALA... Lot 103

EMBOSSED, GILDED AND POLYCHROME COPPER MANDALA PANEL DEPICTING MASS GRAVE SCENES NEPAL OR TIBET, CIRCA 15TH CENTURY Himalayan Art Resources item no. 1451 24 x 46 cm (9 1/2 x 18 1/8 in.) Footnotes: A GILT AND POLYCHROMED COPPER REPOUSSÉ MANDALA PANEL WITH CHARNEL GROUND SCENES NEPAL OR TIBET, CIRCA 15TH CENTURY 尼泊爾或西藏 約十五世紀 銅鎏金彩繪錘揲屍陀林景曼荼羅飾板 Once part of the eastern quadrant of a glorious sculptural mandala, this fine Newari repoussé panel illustrates a carnal ground scene of a mahasiddha surrounded by corpse-devouring vultures, leopards, and wolves, as well as a naga and nagini in attendance. The panel's bands of finely articulated flames, vajra enclosure, and lotus petals form apotropaic boundaries that are common to tantric Buddhist mandalas. While it is possible that this great mandala could have been commissioned and produced in Tibet, the panel's fine repoussé and pigmented background indicate the work of a Newari master craftsman. A closely related pair of Newari repoussé plaques from the same period were sold at Bonhams, New York, 14 March 2016, lot 13. Also see other examples sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 21 April 2021, lot 6; Christie's, Amsterdam, 8 May 2002, lot 543; and one discussed in, Brauen, Mandala: Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism, 2009, fig. 1.10. Provenance: Christie's, Amsterdam, 18 October 1995, lot 302. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com