MANDALA DU MONDE DU DIAMANT (VAJRADHATU)JAPON, ÉPOQUE EDO, XVIIE/XVIIIE SIÈCLEInk, colors, and gold on silk.176 x 122 cm (69 1/4 x 48 in.)Provenance: A VAJRADHATU DIAMOND WORLD MANDALAJAPAN, EDO PERIOD, 17TH/18TH CENTURY日本 江戶時代 十七/十八世紀 金剛界曼陀羅The most widely known form of mandala in Japan is the Ryōkai (Two Realms) mandala. It consists of the pairing of two mandalas: the Taizōku (Womb World) mandala and the example in the present lot, the Kongōkai (Daimond world) mandala. Together, they form the central devotional images of Esoteric Buddhist practice in Japan. The Kongōkai mandala is associated with wisdom, centered around the principle deity Dainichi Nyorai (Mahavairocana), displaying the chiken-in (knowledge fist) mudra. It is most often constructed in nine panels, each a small mandala on its own,posed of 37 deities, namely the Five Great Buddhas; 16 great bodhisattvas; four paramita bodhisattvas; eight offering bodhisattvas; and four guardian bodhisattvas.The nine-panel format mandala was introduced to Japan by the Buddhist priest Kūkai (774-835), who brought ten examples back from China in the early 9th century.pare with a 17th century painting of the Womb World mandala in the British Museum (1881,1210,), and another Edo-period mandala painting in the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, D.C. (F1904.389a-c).