A Nepalese paubha of Lokeshvara (Avalokiteshvara) and Tara, the bodhisattvas of compassion, made in the Kathmandu Valley during the Malla period and dated by its inscription to 1570; it is signed by the painter Thvapati Madakolathasina. The central couple wear the skirt styles distinctive of the Malla period, festive red makeup colours the palms and soles of the figures, and the foreheads of the women bear the red tika powder that still distinguishes married Newar women today. A golden torana frames the central pair — lotus pillars supporting an ornate foliate arch crowned by the red face of the mythical kirtimukha, defining an auspicious space — and its columns are edged with the colourful checkerboard pattern characteristic of Malla-period painting. From the Stella Kramrisch Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art.
