A copper alloy figure of Mahakala, Nepal, circa 15th century

Acquired in 1968/9.

A Collector’s Passion: South Asian Selections from the Nalin Collection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2009.

Melissa R. Kerin, Selections from the David R. Nalin Himalayan Art Collection, New York, 2009, pl. 12.

The iconography of this Mahakala, depicted with eight arms standing on a four-armed elephant, is rare. The elephant here is emblematic of obstacles that need to be overcome; the protector deity is framed within an architectural shrinelike structure.