A thangka depicting a mandala of Trailokyavijaya, Tibet, 14th / early 15th century

Collection of Jack (1926-2017) and Muriel (1929-2019) Zimmerman, acquired in the 1960s.

Trailokyavijaya, also known as Vajrahumkara or Humkara, steps to his left in the alidha posture at the center of an eight-petal lotus within the walls of a mandala palace. The dark blue four-armed deity wears a tiger skin loincloth and holds the vajra sceptre and ghanta bell in his principle hands, crossed and linked together before his chest in the humkara mudra; with a vajra in his raised right hand and bow and arrow in the left. A diminutive tantric group stands in union at the front of Humkara’s pedestal. Four dark blue and four light blue manifestations of an entourage deity, each holding a trident and skull cup, stand in pratyalidha on lotus petals surrounding Humkara. Palace gatekeepers seated in the four portals include red Vajrasphota above (west) holding a chain, yellow Vajrapasa to the left (south) holding a noose, white Vajrankusa with an elephant goad below (east) and green Vajravesa to the right (north).

This fine mandala is one of a series of twelve mandalas arising from the Sarvadurgati Parishodhana Tantra. For two other examples from the same series, see one in the Brooklyn Museum of Art (accession no. BMA 81.10) depicting Vajrapani and the Four Guardian Kings; and the other in the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art (accession no. F1997.6.1) depicting Vajrapani and the Eight Great Nagas.

This fine and extremely rare painting is drawn in the Newar style promoted by the Tibetan Sakya school, particularly at Ngor monastery, epitomized by the exquisite scrollwork, precise geometry and vibrant palette. The format of the mandala relates to works in the Yuan court style developed by the Newar artist Anige (1244-1306), as seen in the renowned 13th or 14th century kesi Cosmological Mandala, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, object number 1989.140, featured in When Silk Was Gold, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1997, cat. no. 26. Compare the lotus flowers emerging from jeweled ‘vases of plenty’ (purna ghata) at each corner, and tendrils enclosing the Eight Auspicious Emblems (astamangala). Also compare the scrollwork of a 14th century Vajradhatu painted mandala, featured in Sacred Visions: Early Painting From Central Tibet, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1998, cat. no. 45; and the scrollwork on early 15th century Vajravali painted mandalas, ibid., cat. no. 47. 

The exceptional quality of the Humkara thangka suggests it was commissioned for an important personage, and for personal focused meditation given its small size and the absence of lineage or incidental deities. This seminal 14th or early 15th century Tibetan painting remains in virtually pristine condition.