A fine gilt-bronze figure of Hevajra

Description:

TIbet, late 16th century
H. 18 cm
Trampling in alidhasana on four divinities reclining on the lotus-base, his principle arms embracing his consort with her right leg fastened around his middle, his other fourteen arms radiating around his body, all hands supporting a kapala containing divinities and animals, his consort holding karttrika and kapala, each wearing a tiger-skirt or bone-skirt, ornamented with garlands decorated with skulls respectively severed heads, his multiple faced head displaying severe expressions below arched eyebrows supporting a head with a ferocious looking face, his hairdo secured with tiaras, one set with a turquoise bead and topped with a vishvavajra, sealed.
From the collection of the chemist, engineer and director of Merck & Co. Heinrich Georg Johann Harms (3 Sept. 1906-28 June 1975) and his wife Eva Harms (10 Nov. 1905-13 Oct. 1998), largely collected in Shanghai between 1935 and 1942 - Minor wear, very slightly chipped