
Jing Wen
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Sold for €6,120 inc. premium
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Cataloguer

Global Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art

International Director

International Specialist

Head of Sale, Specialist
FIVE GAUS OF GARUDA, CHITIPATI, YAMA DHARMARAJA, KURUKULLA, AND PEHAR
TIBET AND MONGOLIA, 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY
西藏及蒙古 十九/二十世紀初 迦樓羅、屍陀林主、閻魔護法、作明佛母及白哈爾嘎烏盒一組五件
In contrast to gaus fashioned into shrines for a home or temple, square-shaped gaus with ringed loops were designed for long distance travel. Apart from signaling to passerby a person's status and rank, this type of gau also ensured safe travel, good health, and successful business as protective amulets (see Henss, Buddhist Ritual Art of Tibet, Stuttgart, 2020, p.368).
Further noted by the five following works, each of which house a powerful protector deity, travelling gaus also functioned as a nexus point from which enlightened beings could be invoked and communicated with. See a window-framed silver gau embossed with the Eight Auspicious Buddhist Emblems in the Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts (HAR 50760) that compares favorably with two other examples in this lot.
Provenance:
Paris art market, 1980s