
Jing Wen
Cataloguer
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Sold for €5,737.50 inc. premium
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Cataloguer

Global Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art

International Director

International Specialist

Head of Sale, Specialist
A LARGE PAINTED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ FIGURE OF SIMHAMUKHA
MONGOLIA, 19TH CENTURY
蒙古 十九世紀 彩繪紙塑獅面空行母像
Identified by her ferocious lion head, Simhamukha dances atop a naked, supine figure in ardhaparyankasana. She raises a kartrika (chopper knife) with her right hand while holding a kapala (skull cup) in her left. A garland of severed heads and a red tiger skin, draw the viewer's attention to her prominent crown of skulls, wild mane, and flaming eyebrows.
Simhamukha is both an important retinue deity of the Chakrasamavara tantra, and a yidam (meditational deity) in her own right. In the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, she is revered as a manifestation of its founder, Padmasambhava. Compare with a Mongolian example in silver, sold at Bonhams, New York, 11 September 2011, lot 1085.
Provenance:
Suzi Lebasi, Tasmania, 2000s