A gilt-bronze figure of Dharmapala Mahakala Tibet, 18th / 19th century

cast with three ferocious heads and six arms, standing with legs spread wide apart atop an oval lotus base, the primary hands each holding a gada, one with vishvavajra finial, wearing a tiger-skin apron around the bulging belly and a flayed human skin over the back and shoulders, the outer side painted red with Tibetan inscriptions in black, further adorned with ornate foliate jewelry and long skull garlands with turquoise insets, all below three ferocious heads each with bulging eyes and fanged mouths, set with crowns of skulls before flaming orange hair engulfing a green naga, with two separate kalashas and banners, probably later added

Sotheby's London, 10th March 1986, lot 62.