
Jing Wen
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Cataloguer

Global Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art

International Director

International Specialist

Head of Sale, Specialist
A CARVED WOOD POLYCHOME RITUAL PURBHA AND STAND
TIBET, 19TH CENTURY
西藏 十九世紀 木雕加彩普巴杵連座
This painted wood phurba is a ritual dagger designed to subdue evil demons. Used in spirit subduing rituals, the triple-sided blade of this three-faced dagger represents the deity Vajrakila, whose lower half mimics the body of the implement itself. Surmounted by a vajra, the vertical arrangement of the three heads is feature more commonly on ritual clubs, or khatvanga, to symbolize both the attainment of clear light reality and the mastery over the three poisons: passion, aggression, and ignorance.
Compare the following work's faceted sections and decorative motifs with a set of three phurbus in the Triay Collection (see Spink, Body, Speech and Mind, 1998, p. 79, no. 48)
Provenance:
Ashencaen and Leonov, London, 2000s