1982.8.McD Head of a Heavenly King (Lokapala)

This lokapala (heavenly guardian) sculpture consists only of the head from a full-length wooden guardian figure designed to be placed by the entrance to a shrine or temple. The powerfully muscular face has affinities with early Japanese dance masks and is carved in linear patterns which articulate the  head as an image of benevolent ferocity. Another example of the use of ferocious imagery as a form of protection occurs in the Dallas Museum of Art's Tang dynasty lokapala [1987.360.1.McD and 1987.360.2.McD]. 

Shingon: AAT: 300022004

Japan (nation): TGN: 1000120

sculpture: AAT: 300047090

wood (plant material): AAT: 300011914

Late Heian: AAT: 300106598

apotropaic: DMA

Buddhism : AAT: 300073738

protection: AAT: 300164923

1981: Colnaghi Oriental, London

1982: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of the Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, purchase from above. [1]

The main source for this provenance is the letter from Suzanne Davis of Colnaghi Oriental to Steven Nash of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, dated March 5, 1982, copy in Dallas Museum of Art collection records object file. Exceptions and supporting documentation are noted. 

[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.

Apply to objects where number equals 1982.8.McD