
Jing Wen
Cataloguer
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€10,000 - €15,000
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Cataloguer

Global Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art

International Director

International Specialist

Head of Sale, Specialist
A PAPIER-MÂCHÉ, WOOD AND FUR NECHUNG ORACLE HAT
TIBET OR MONGOLIA, 18TH/19TH CENTURY
西藏或蒙古 十八/十九世紀 紙塑木雕飾毛皮乃瓊護法冠
This cymbal-shaped hat depicts the wrathful visage of Mahakala emerging from a double tetrahedron teeming with grinning skulls, spotted snakes, and tormented, severed heads. The dome is surmounted by a skull and vajra finial. In Vajrayana Buddhist iconography, riding hats designed with a wide brim were typically worn by worldly protector deities such as Pehar, Dorje Shugden, Dorje Legpa, and Damchen Garwa Nagpo.
See other hats with similarly wide, circular brims and tantric motifs, two of which are located in the British Museum (As1906,1226.43 & As1933,0508.57; HAR 33894 & 33895).
Provenance:
Paul Morse, Himalayan Antiques, Ipswich, USA