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.

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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.

 

Mongolia, wrathful females

17th century, Mongolia, Magzor Gyalmo, bronze (brass), private collection, photo by Christie’s.

The crescent moon in her headdress and the sun disc over her navel identify this deity as Magzor Gyalmo, the wrathful aspect of Sarasvati, whose appearance is similar to that of Palden Lhamo but she only has two hands. She sits sideways on a khiang or a mule, using her son’s hide as a saddle and wears a skull crown, a garland of severed heads, a tiger skin loin cloth, bone and snake ornaments. In her right hand she wields a (missing) vajra-tipped staff and in the other hand she holds a skull cup filled with magic substances or  blood and a mustard seed.

18th century, Mongolia, Magzor Gyalmo (labelled Lhamo), parcel-gilt brass (copper alloy), private collection, photo by Hanhai auction.

The same distinctive features and the vajra-tipped staff make this figure likely to be Magzor Gyalmo, riding across a sea of blood.

18th century, Mongolia, Palden Lhamo, at the Jacques Marchais Museum of Art

This image was published in a previous post and thought to possibly depict Magzor Gyalmo because of the attributes in her two hands, and because Palden Lhamo has four hands. However, she is normally accompanied by Makaravaktra, who leads her mule, and Simhavaktra who walks behind, and she doesn’t have a crescent moon in her headdress or a sun disc on her navel. The above seems to be, therefore, a mixture of the two.

18th century, Mongolia, Makaravaktra (labelled Makaramukha), gilt copper alloy, private collection, photo by Sotheby’s.

Unlike the dakini  Makaramukha, who wears a skull crown and stands on one foot, Makaravaktra, the makara-faced attendant to Palden Lhamo, stands on both feet and doesn’t wear a skull crown. Her right arm is raised to hold the bridle of Palden Lhamo’s mount, the left hand is held against her heart.

19th century, Mongolia, Rishamukha, silver with turquoise and coral inlay, private collection, photo by Bonhams.

A late but rare and well-crafted sculpture of this bear-headed dakini, blending Tibetan features such as the use of silver with turquoise and coral inlay with Chinese-style accessories, like the celestial scarf with very sharp bends and the dharma wheel breast plate with pendants.

Mongolia, Vajravarahi and Samvara

18th century, Mongolia, Vajravarahi, gilt copper alloy with stone inlay and pigments, private collection.

This form of Vajrayogini has the appearance of a dakini, her legs in a dancing posture, holding a sword or a flaying knife (missing here) in her right hand and a skull cup in the other. There should be a sow’s head sticking out of her own. She has a khatvanga resting on her left arm and is adorned with a garland of freshly severed human heads, a five-skull crown, Chinese-style jewellery and celestial scarf. There is a small buddha at the top of her orange flaming hair. She stands on a human corpse. Vajravarahi is the consort of Chakrasamvara.

18th century, Mongolia, Chakrasamvara, gilt copper alloy and pigments, private collection.

Chakrasamvara is rarely depicted on his own. This form has four heads, 2 legs, 12 arms. The hands crossed over his heart hold a thunderbolt and a bell (vajra and ghanta). His other hands hold the ends of an elephant hide behind his head, a flaying knife and a skull cup, an axe and a folded lasso, a trident and a staff (khatvanga), drums and severed heads. He is adorned with a skull crown, elaborate Chinese-style jewellery inlaid with turquoise, two animal skins around his waist, a belt with raining-jewel pendants. Each face has a third eye and bared fangs, the hair is gathered into a chignon topped with a gold finial. He stands on two victims (missing here).