
Jing Wen
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Global Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art

International Director

International Specialist

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A POLYCHROMED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ ARTICULATED FIGURE OF GARUDA (BOGDO ULA) WITH A GILT COPPER ALLOY REPOUSSÉ LOTUS BASE
MONGOLIA, 19TH CENTURY
蒙古 十九世紀 紙塑加彩迦樓羅像連銅鎏金錘揲蓮花座
This striking representation of Garuda as Bogdo Ula, with a rope naga held in his beak and hands, has been constructed so that the wings flap by pulling on the cord that extends from his crotch. He is adorned with inset gems that form his necklace and belly cord, while his horns are surmounted by vajra finials flanking a triple jewel (triranta) on his head. A further creative flourish can be found in the wings where the counter-weights for the reticulation are fashioned as a silver moon and golden sun. It is likely that the reticulation device was utilized by worshippers to summon the protective power of the mountain god.
Compare with a papier-mache mask of the spirit of Bogdo Ula, (Garuda) preserved in the Choijin-Lama Temple Museum, Ulaanbaata (Tsultem, Mongolian Sculpture, pls. 188-89). As noted by Berger in discussion of the same mask, 'In the Mongolian tsam Garuda plays the role of one of the Lords of the Four Mountains, a group of local figures that won acceptance and popularity because they were taken directly from Mongolian shamanism and grafted onto Tibetan Buddhist belief. Garuda represents the God of Bogdo Ula, the sacred mountain south of modern Ulaanbaatar (Berger, Mongolia: The Legacy of Chinggis Khan, San Francisco, 1995, p. 160, no. 34).
Provenance:
Ashencaen and Leonov, London, 2000s