A RARE GILT-BRONZE 'MAKARA' BASE18th century The mythical creature cast with a curved fish body and a horned dragon head defined by bulging eyes and open fangs, finely depicted emerging from tumultuous waves. 14cm (5 1/2in) high. 十八世紀 銅鎏金「摩伽羅」底座 The present makara would have likely served as a base supporting one of the Eight Buddhist Emblems, bajixiang , which were positioned on altar tables during the performance of Buddhist rituals.pare two similar gilt-bronze makaras , Yongzheng, supporting respectively a conch and a parasol, in the Ji Zhen Zhai Collection, illustrated by Fang Jing Pei, Symbols and Rebuses in Chinese Art , Berkeley, CA, 2003, nos.36 and 49. In ancient Indo-Tibetan cosmology, makara are sea-monsters that balance the universe on their backs as they move through the cosmic ocean. The mythical creaturebines the jaws of a crocodile, trunk of an elephant and lion's paws.