Mongolia, a few female entities (4)

18th century, Mongolia, Ushnishavijaya, gilt metal (copper alloy) with cold gold and pigments, private collection, photo on HAR .

The ‘Victorious Goddess of the Ushnisha’ in her three-head and eight-arm form, each head with three eyes and a foliate crown, seated in the vajra position on a Zanabazar-style lotus base, holding in her main hands a visvajra and a lasso now lost. The top right hand holds an effigy of Amitabha, the one below normally clutches a vajra sceptre, the lower hand is in the gesture of supreme generosity. Her top left hand is in the fear-allaying gesture, the middle one once held a bow, the lower one supports a long-life vase.

18th century, Mongolia, Sitatapatra, gilt metal, at the Imperial Palace Museum in Beijing, photo on Himalayan Art Resources

The ‘White Parasol’ in her one-head and two-arm form, with her main attribute in her left hand. The right hand does the fear-allaying gesture.

18th century, (Mongolia?), Simhavaktra, parcel-gilt brass and copper, from the Musée Guimet in Paris (France), photo on feminismestyle  .

Since she has no crown or garland of severed heads, this lion-headed dakini is identified as Simhavaktra, who may have the same form as Simhamukha: standing on one leg and holding a flaying knife and a skull cup, a ritual staff propped against her left arm (all missing here).

18th century, Mongolia, Tara, gilt metal, private collection, photo on Himalayan Art Resources

Green Tara, seated on a tall lotus base with a leg pendent, her left hand bestowing refuge (tip of the ring finger pressed on the tip of the thumb), the right hand in the boon-granting gesture.

18th century, Mongolia, Green Tara, gilt bronze and turquoise inlay, private collection, photo on Christie’s

A variant with an effigy of Amitabha in her headdress.

18th century, Mongolia, Green Tara, gilt metal, private collection, photo on HAR

The tall lotus base with a three-tier plinth and a row of beading at the top, the delicate embroidery on the hem of the garment, the beaded accessories and the foliate crown of this Green Tara are derived from Zanabazar’s very own style. She holds an open/day lotus in her right hand and a closed/night one on the other side.

Mongolia, unlabelled (circa 18th century, gilt copper alloy with cold gold and pigments), SRG archives, photo on HAR

A wrathful female with a third eye and bared fangs, her hair dyed blue, adorned with a lotus-bud crown and finial, her left foot placed on a lotus flower stemming from the base, holding a flaying knife and a skull cup.

Mongolia, a few female entities (2)

17th-18th century, Mongolia, Tara, gilt bronze, private collection, photo on igavel

Green Tara is seated on a Zanabazar-style lotus base, her right foot on a lotus fixed to the stepped plinth, her left hand holding the stem of a lotus, the other held in the gesture of supreme generosity. The style of her jewellery is also typical of the Zanabazar school. We have seen a few similar sculptures with the same two-tier chignon decorated with an effigy of Amitabha at the front and the same low tiara made of five round lotus buds.

18th century, Mongolia, Tara, partly gilt metal (probably copper repoussé), private collection, photo on ArmanAntiques

The Dolonnor style is quite different. Figures are usually made following the quicker and cheaper repoussé method, they are parcel-gilt and some of the accessories are detachable. This Green Tara has her hair drawn in a topknot, she wears a thin scarf, a thin sash knotted below her breasts, a long lower garment topped with a shorter one worn like an apron, both with an embroidered hem.

Undated, Inner Mongolia, Tara (labelled ‘buddha’), gilt bronze, private collection, photo on GG-ART .

White Tara, seated with her legs locked, displaying an eye on the palm of her hands, the sole of her feet and her forehead.

18th century, Mongolia, Dolonnor, Ushnishavijaya, parcel-gilt bronze, private collection, photo on  Nagel  . 

One of a series of Ushnishavijaya sculptures with three heads and eight arms, her hair gathered in a double bun tied with a gold ribbon, seated on a double lotus base with sharply pointed tips, dressed in a lower garment loosely gathered around her legs, adorned with jewellery, a scarf and a thin sash knotted below her breasts. Her main hands would have held a Visvajra, her lower right hand does the gesture of generosity, the left one is cupped to support a long-life vase now lost. The other missing attributes are an effigy of Amitabha in her top right hand and probably a vajra sceptre on the other side. The last pair of hands clutches a bow and an arrow.

18th century, Mongolia, Rikshamukha? (labelled dog-headed dakini), bronze, private collection, photo on ArmanAntiques   

This smart dakini is very similar to a silver Rikshamukha (bear-headed) seen previously.  Her right hand wields a (missing) flaying knife, the left hand likely held a skull. She is clad in a tiger or leopard skin loin cloth and adorned with three necklaces, armlets, bracelets, anklets and what looks like sandals but is probably another type of beaded foot ornament.

Mongolia, a few female entities (3)

 

Circa 18th century, Mongolia, Magzor Gyalmo, gilt bronze with pigment, whereabouts unspecified, photo on gg-art.com .

Magzor Gyalmo, seated sideways on the hide of her dead son, her kiang crossing a sea of blood full of corpses. She has a sun disc over her navel, magic weapons attached to her mount with a long snake (a bag of diseases, red curses, a pair of dice at the front, a ball of variegated wool at the back), her staff and skull cup missing from her hands.

15th-16th century, Tibet (labelled ‘Mongolia’ on Himalayan Art Resources), dakini, parcel-gilt silver with stone inlay, on a gilt metal base, private collection, photo by Christie’s, sale 17347.

Possibly a retinue figure from a Chakrasamvara set, she has four hands in which she holds a flaying knife and a skull cup, a drum and a ritual staff. Whereas parcel-gilt silver is almost absent from Tibetan art, we have seen quite a few parcel-gilt silver sculptures from Mongolia. There is a page on Inner Mongolia parcel-gilt works on HAR-Mongolia .

18th century, Mongolia, Ushnishavijaya, parcel-gilt silver with turquoise inlay, gilt metal base, private collection, photo by Hanhai Auction on HAR.

18th century, Mongolia, Mahapratisara, gilt metal, private collection, photo on Himalayan Art Resources, item 32769.

Pratisara, one of the five  Panksha Raksha deities, in her one-head and two-arm form, wielding a sword in her right hand and holding an eight-spoke wheel before her heart in the other. She may stand with her feet apart or squat on Ganapati.

18th century, Mongolia, Sitatapatra, gilt bronze, private collection, photo by Rossi&Rossi.

Sitatapatra in her one-head and two-hand form, holding a (missing) parasol in her left hand and a (missing) wheel in the other.

Early 18th century, Mongolia, Sitatapatra, gilt bronze, private collection, photo by Nagel, sale 703.

A rare image of a female deity with three-heads and various buddhas in her headdress, including Amitabha at the top. She holds a hook and a lasso in one hand, a flower in the other. The three-head form of Sitatapatra normally has eight hands, sometimes six, in which she holds a lasso, a hook, a bow, an arrow, a wheel, a vajra sceptre or a water pot, a parasol and a banner – no flower.

18th century, Mongolia, Tingi Shalzangma, gilt bronze, private collection, photo on Uppsala Auktion.

One of five long-life sisters, she holds a mirror and rides a kiang or a mare. On paintings she has a blue body.

Mongolia, Tara

Undated (probably 17th century, Zanabazar school), Mongolia, Tara, (gilt bronze and pigment), private collection, photo on HAR .

Green Tara is seated on a tall double-lotus base, wearing elaborate foliate earrings, a matching choker and delicate beaded accessories, a thin sash and a celestial scarf, a long lower garment with an embroidered hem. Her face is painted with cold cold and pigments, her hair is dyed with lapis lazuli powder.

Early 18th century, Mongolia, Tara, gilt bronze, private collection, photo by Nagel, auction 703.

17th-18th century, Mongolia, Tara, gilt bronze, private collection, photo by Andrew Lau on Hollywood Galleries .

This green Tara has an effigy of Amitabha in her headdress.

18th century, Inner Mongolia, Tara, gilt bronze and repoussé metal, private collection, photo on Christie’s.

Late 18th century, Inner Mongolia or China, Tara, gilt bronze, private collection, photo by Christie’s, as before.

18th century, Mongolia, Tara, silver, turquoise, gilt metal, private collection, photo on Himalayan Art Resources, item 24194.

Circa 1800, Mongolia, Tara, (parcel-)gilt bronze repoussé with turquoise inlay and paint, private collection, photo on Sotheby’s – Australia

White Tara, seated with her legs locked, has an eye on her forehead, on the palm of her hands and the sole of her feet.

Mongolia, a few female entities (2)

17th-18th century, Mongolia, Dolonnor, Tara, silver with turquoise, pigments and gold, photo by Bonhams .

White Tara, adorned with separately cast gold jewellery, her small tiara, earrings, impressive necklace and the large lotus she holds inlaid with turquoise, the ribbons of the crown, her sash and her lower garment painted with pigments and cold gold. There is an eye incised on her forehead and in the palm of her hand.

18th century, Mongolia, Dolonnor, Tara, gilt copper alloy with turquoise and pigments, private collection, photo by Bonhams .

A Chinese-style Green Tara seated at ease, wearing a silk shawl over her shoulders, adorned with princely jewellery inlaid with small turquoise cabochons, her left hand bestowing refuge.

18th century, Mongolia, White Tara, gilt bronze (copper alloy), Zanabazar school, private collection, photo on Christie’s  .

18th century, Mongolia, Vajrayogini, Naropa tradition, gilt copper alloy, private collection, item 51638 on Himalayan Art Resources.

Vajrayogini in her Sarvabuddha Dakini form, drinking blood from a skull cup raised to her mouth, a flaying knife in her right hand held downwards, crushing two victims.

18th century, Tibet, (labelled ‘Mongolia’ on HAR , Vajrayogini (formerly labelled ‘dakini’), silver with parcel-gilt copper alloy, at the Art Insitute of Chicago (USA).

She holds a rosary (not normally associated with her) in her right hand and raises a skull cup to her mouth, her head topped with a half-vajra. The ritual staff normally propped against her left shoulder is fastened to the back of her other shoulder. She wears a garland of skulls -instead of severed heads -,  a festooned breast ornament and an adaptation of the traditional bone apron, plain armbands, bracelets and anklets. There are no victims under her feet, both touching the base.

18th century, Mongolia, Marichi (originally published as “Green Tara” by the auction house), gilt bronze, private collection, photo on Christie’s 

Seated with a leg pendant, Marichi, in her one-head and two hand form, is identified by the third eye on her forehead, the upright vajra sceptre against her heart and the miniature ashoka tree in front of her. Her long dhoti is held in place with a jewelled belt and there is a thin pleated sash across her left breast.

 

Mongolia, Palden Lhamo

18th century, Mongolia, Palden Lhamo and Makaravaktra, copper with lacquer and pigments, at the Liverpool World Museum (UK).

Magzor Gyalmo, a one-head and two-hand form of Palden Lhamo, identified by the sun disc over her navel, the crescent moon in her flaming hair and the (white) corpse she chews, sits sideways on a kiang or a mule led by Makaravaktra; her son’s hide is used as a saddle. She holds a vajra-tipped sandalwood staff in her right hand (missing here) and a skull cup filled with blood and a mustard seed (or magic substances) in the other, and wears a tiger skin loin cloth and other wrathful ornaments including a garland of severed heads. What looks like mountain peaks on the base is the symbol for vermilion, used to represent a sea of blood.

18th century, Mongolia, Palden Lhamo, incense paste (pulp from the bark of the incense tree, presumably) and pigments, at the Art Institute of Chicago.

The same deity, chewing a brown corpse. In Tibet, she usually wears two different earrings, one is a lion the other a snake. The above wears hoops with a foliate pendant that matches the panels of her crown.

 

Mongolia, a few female figures

17th century, Mongolia, Vajravarahi, gilt bronze (copper alloy), private collection, photo by Sotheby’s.

This is the aspect of buddha Vajrayogini with a sow’s head sticking out of her right temple. She stands with a foot on Kalatrari, who embodies ego, over a Mongolian-style single lotus base, holding a flaying knife and a skull cup, a ritual staff propped against her left shoulder. She is adorned with a skull crown, a garland of severed heads, and unusual bone  jewellery with a dharma wheel central motif. The way her right knee rests on a lotus sprouting from the base recalls much earlier Tibetan works with the same feature.

Her flaming hair is raised and shaped like a mitre. She has a third eye and protruding fangs that bite her lower lip.

17th or 18th century, Tibet or Mongolia, silvered and gilt bronze (copper alloy), at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney (Australia).

Green Tara is seated on a (missing) lotus base, her right foot on a large flower fastened to the rim, holding the (missing) stem of a lotus in her left hand. The use of green paint for the flowers in conjunction with parcel-gilding suggests the item was made in Mongolia, or for a Mongolian patron.

Early 18th century, Mongolia, Ushnishavijaya, gilt copper alloy, private collection, photo by Nagel.

Ushnishavijaya, in her popular three-head and eight-hand form, holds a visvajra in her main hands. The lower right hand displays the gesture of supreme generosity, the other two hold a lotus with an effigy of Amitabha and an arrow. Her upper left hand displays the fear-allaying gesture, the other hands hold a bow and a long-life vase, a standard depiction in Tibet that extended to Mongolia.

18th century, Mongolia, Green Tara, gilt copper (alloy?), private collection, photo by Hanhai auction.