Tibet, Garwa Nagpo (2)

Late 18th century, Tibeto-Chinese (Tibetan artist in China), local deity, bronze, 16,5 cm, Asian Art 809 lot 33, 7th July 2022, Nagel

Worshipped by blacksmiths, and a blacksmith himself, this worldly protector, and a special protector of the Gelug order, always rides a billy goat with twisted horns. He usually seats sideways, with both arms stretched out. In his right hand he wields a vajra-tipped hammer, in the other he holds bellows. Regarded as Dorje Legpa’s main attendant (sometimes as a form of Dorje Legpa), he has the aspect of a damcan, looking extremely wrathful, with three bulging eyes, bared fangs, flaming hair, long garments, boots, and a cane hat. On paintings he has a dark blue body, wears a skull crown, a black silk garment, and jewellery.

18th-19th century, Tibet, Garwa Nagpo (labelled ‘dam-can rDor-je-legs-pa’), gilt copper alloy with pigment, inventory nº hb17 at the Museo d’Arte Orientale in Turin (Italy).

Most portable sculptures of Garwa Nagpo seen so far (late Tibeto-Chinese ones mainly) include a base which represents mountains. See more on Himalayan Art Resources

Tibet, Garwa Nagpo (2)

18th century, Tibeto-Chinese, Damchen Garwa’i Nagpo, gilt bronze, private collection, photo on Christie’s

Often made by a Tibetan artist for a Chinese patron during the 18th century, portable sculptures of Garwa Nagpo always depict him riding a male goat with twisted horn, usually seated sideways. He has the appearance of a damcan, also spelt ‘damchen’ or ‘demchen’, a generic Tibetan term referring to a class of non-Buddhist deities that were subdued and became ‘bound by an oath’ (to protect the Buddhist faith). He normal wears a long silk garment tied with a belt, felt boots, and a cane hat, although on paintings and on Chinese-style sculptures he may have spiky hair and a skull crown instead. The above is riding across a sea of blood littered with limbs.

18th century, Tibeto-Chinese, Damchen Garwa’i Nagpo, gilt bronze, private collection, photo on Christie’s

Garwa Nagpo always has one head (with three eyes, bared fangs, flaming hair) and two arms, held horizontally. His attributes are a vajra-tipped hammer in his right hand (missing here) and a pair of bellows in the other.

18th century, Tibeto-Chinese, Damchen Garwa Nagpo, gilt bronze, private collection, photo on Christie’s

Worshipped by blacksmiths, this attendant to Dorje Legpa (sometimes regarded as a form of Dorje Legpa himself) is also the special protector of the Gelug order and of some Gelug monasteries. 

Tibet, Dorje Legpa (4)

Late 18th century, Tibet, Garwa Nagpo, gilt copper alloy with cold gold and pigment, private collection, photo on Himalayan Art Resources , details in an article on Taktsang (where it is attributed to Inner Mongolia possibly).

Garwa Nagpo complete with his attributes, a vajra-tipped hammer and a pair of bellows, riding a billy goat with twisted horns across a sea of blood. Worshipped by blacksmiths, this special protector of the Gelug order is regarded as an attendant to or a form of Dorje Legpa. He has three eyes, bared fangs, and normally holds his arms horizontally.

18th century, Tibeto-Chinese, Damcan, private collection, photo on Koller .

18th-19th century, Tibet, Garwa Nagpo, gilt bronze, private collection, photo on Sotheby’s, Hong Kong .

18th-19th century, Tibet, Garwa’i Nagpo, gilt bronze, private collection, photo by Christie’s, sale 1409 lot 152.

17th-18th century, Tibet (or China?), Dorje Legpa (labelled ‘Dam-Can Bihar’), gilt bronze, at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn university (USA).

Dorje Legpa with one head and two hands, holding a vajra sceptre in his right hand and a wrenched heart in the other, dressed in the fashion proper to a ‘dam-can’. He may ride a snow lion,  a goat or a camel.

18th century, Tibet (or China?), Dorje Legpa, gilt bronze, private collection, photo by Ravenel, 20th November 2016 lot 638.

He is sometimes depicted with flaming hair and a skull crown instead of a cane hat. On this sculpture he uses a human hide as a saddle.

Undated, Dorje Legpa, Himalayan (or Sino-Tibetan?), bronze with cold gold and pigment on a copper alloy base, private collection, photo on Quinn’s .

In his three-head and six-arm form he rides a lion whose head is turned upwards to show respect for his master. The attributes missing from his hands are a stick, a scimitar, an arrow, a bow, a sword, a pike.

18th century, Tibet, Damcan, bronze, private collection, photo on Bonhams

18th-19th century, Tibet, Damcan, gilt copper alloy, private collection, published by Galerie Zacke

A dam.can with one head, three eyes, two hands, riding a goat, wearing a silk cloak, a cane hat and felt boots. He has both arms stretched and wields a vajra sceptre in his right hand and a (missing) human heart in the other.

Tibet, Garwa Nagpo

16th-17th century (or later?), Tibet, Garwa Nagpo, gilt bronze, private collection, photo on liveauctioneers

Dorje Legpa’s main attendant always rides a billy goat with twisted horns and he usually sits sideways with both arms stretched horizontally. He has the same appearance as other protectors often referred to as ‘damcan’: wrathful, with a third eye, bared fangs, orange hair, long silk garments covering both arms, riding boots and hat.

18th century, Tibet, Garwa Nagpo? (labelled ‘Dam-can’), gilt copper alloy, private collection, photo  Bonhams  

His cane hat is either flat or like a helmet. He holds a hammer in his right hand and some bellows in the other (missing from the above examples).

Tibet, figures riding a goat

18th century, Tibet (or China?), Damchen Garwa Nagpo, gilt bronze, private collection, photo on Tienkong.

Garwa Nagpo always rides a billy goat with twisted horns and has both arms stretched to display a vajra-tipped hammer in his right hand and a pair of bellows in the other (both missing here) since he is a blacksmith. He has a third eye, a wrathful countenance and wears long silk garments, felt boots and usually has a riding helmet.

Circa 18th century, Tibet, Garwa Nagpo (labelled ‘Dorje Legpa’), gilt bronze, private collection, photo on aaoarts .

Garwa Nagpo is the main attendant or officer of Dorje Legpa and sometimes a form of Dorje Legpa on paintings. This figure holds small bellows in his left hand.

18th century, Tibet, Garwa Nagpo, (labelled ‘Pehar’), silver and gilt base, private collection, photo by Nagel, sale 101 China 1.

Himalayan sculptures of him are often late Tibeto-Chinese or Sino-Tibetan works on which he is shown crossing a sea of blood. In this case, the artist has given more life to it by adding a stippled motif to the sculpted waves.

In Tibetan, damchen/damcan/demchen is a general term that originally referred to non-Buddhist deities who were eventually subdued and became protectors of the Buddhist faith (dharmapala). Dorje Legpa normally wears a cane hat or helmet whereas on paintings Garwa Nagpo may have a skull crown and flaming hair.

Tibet, Dorje Legpa (3)

Dorje Legpa is often labelled Damcan, Demchen, Dhamchen, Damchen or Dam Can, which is a general term for a type of wrathful deity. Dorje Legpa (Vajrasadhu in sanskrit) may ride a goat, a lion, sometimes a camel. He often wears a large hat, and has a two-hand form and a six-hand form. Small metal sculptures of him are rare, some of them actually correspond to his main attendant (see below), most of them are late Tibeto-Chinese productions (made in China by a Tibetan artist).

Undated, Tibet, Dorje Legpa, bronze, Katimari collection, photo on Himalayan Art Resources.

He always holds a vajra sceptre high up in his right hand and a wrenched human heart before his chest.

18th century, Tibet, Dorje Legpa (labelled ‘Garwa Nagpo’), gilt bronze and pigments, private collection photo on Hargeisheimer

In his six-hand form he has three heads, each with three eyes, and holds weapons (missing here). These would normally be a pike, a bow, a sword in the right hands, a scimitar, an arrow, a baton in the left hands. This form looks very much like the six-hand form of Pehar, which we have seen in a previous post.

18th century, Tibeto-Chinese, Garwa Nagpo? (labelled ‘dam.can’), gilt copper repoussé, private collection, photo on Christie’s, Paris

His main attendant, Garwa Nagpo always has one head, with three eyes, and two arms held horizontally.  He rides a billy goat with twisted horns, and holds a hammer and a pair of bellows (missing here).

Circa 18th century, Tibet?, Garwa Nagpo, metal, at the Phoenix Art Museum (USA).

He is also a deity by himself, being the special protector of some Gelug monateries.

18th century, Tibeto-Chinese, Garwa Nagpo, gilt bronze, private collection, photo on Christie’s

He wears long clothes made of black silk, and felt boots. The above rides a sea of blood, a feature very common on late Tibetan or Tibeto-Chinese statues of wrathful deities. His attributes are an upraised hammer and some bellows, which are the tools of a blacksmith.

18th century, Tibeto-Chinese, Garwa Nagpo (labelled ‘Damcan’), gilt bronze, private collection, Asian Art lot 137, 7th May 2013, Koller.

16th-17th century, Tibet, Dorje Legpa (labelled ‘Pehar Gyalpo’), polychrome stone, private collection, photo on Millon .

Dorje Legpa riding a lion. We saw an almost identical stone figure of him here (or is it the same with part of the polychromy removed???).

Tibet, Dorje Legpa (2)

18th century, Tibet, Dorje Legpa (labelled ‘dam.can’), gilt copper alloy, private collection, photo on Christie’s, Paris

Dharma protector Dorje Legpa, a type of dam.can also known as Vajra Sadhu in sanskrit, rides a Tibetan billy goat with crossed horn, and holds a vajra sceptre in his right hand and a human heart in the other (it is not clear what the above holds). He wears silk garments adorned with an incised motif, boots, a celestial scarf and his usual hat.

17th-18th century, Tibet, Pehar (or Dorje Legpa?), copper alloy with traces of gilding, published on http://www.the-saleroom.com.

The form of Pehar who rides a lion normally has three heads and six arms. Dorje Legpa in his two-hand form may ride a lion, a goat or a camel. He holds a vajra sceptre in his right hand and a human heart in the other, as the above figure. Both may wear a cymbal-shaped hat.

Undated (circa 18th century), Tibet, Dorje Legpa, metal, at the American Museum of Natural History (USA).

He may also ride a snow lion.

18th-19th century, Tibet, Dorje Legpa, gilt copper alloy, at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford (UK).

This sculpture depicts him in his 3-head and six-arm version, riding a snow lion. In his right hands he holds a stick, a (missing) arrow, and a vajra sword, in his left hands he holds a vajra knife (with a vajra handle), a bow, and a (missing) vajra pike.

Circa 18th century, Tibet, Garwa Nagpo, gilt copper alloy, private collection, photo on Christie’s

Dorje Legpa’s attendant, Garwa Nagpo holds in his right hand a vajra hammer (said to be made of meteorite iron according to the Himalayan Art Resources website) and, in his left hand, some bellows (supposed to be made of tiger skin). On this sculpture, his mount is crossing an ocean of blood.

18th century, Tibet or China, Garwa Nagpo (labelled ‘Palden Lhamo’), gilt bronze, private collection, photo on Hardt .

Seated sideways on a goat with twisted horns, his arms stretched horizontally to display his hammer and bellows (now lost in this case), Garwa Nagpo is the patron saint of blacksmiths, and a special protector of the Gelug order. He has a damcan appearance, i.e. very irate, with three eyes, bared fangs, long silk garments that cover both arms, felt boots. On paintings he has flaming orange hair and is adorned with a five-skull crown and earrings, as above.

18th-19th century, Tibeto-Chinese, Dorje Legpa (or Garwa Nagpo?), gilt copper alloy, at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford (UK)

The attributes are missing from this figure, but he rides a Tibetan goat with entwined horns, like Garwa Nagpo.

Tibet, Dorje Legpa

16th century, Tibet, Dorje Legpa on lion, gilt copper alloy and pigment, private collection, photo on Himalayan Art Resources

Circa 18th century, Tibet, Garwa Nagpo (labelled ‘damcan’) copper alloy with cold gold and red pigment, private collection, auction A144AS lot 127, 15th March 2008, Koller.

For close ups, there is a black and white photo of this work on HAR

Circa 18th century, Tibet, Dam-can (Garwa Nagpo?), gilt bronze, private collection, photo by Marie-Catherine Daffos for aaoarts

This Tibetan wrathful deity, also known as Damcan or Damchen (which is a generic term),  is a protector, guardian of sacred texts, and may be riding a lion or a goat. He has one face with three eyes and bared fangs, two hands (normally holding a thunderbolt and a human heart), two legs. He  wears a  long silk cloak and a cane hat or a helmet. Garwa Nagpo is his main attendant and sometimes regarded as a form of Dorje Legpa. He rides a goat and holds a hammer and bellows (missing here).

17th century, Tibet, Dorje Legpa (labelled ‘Gyalpo Pehar´), polychrome stone, private collection, photo on Florence Number Nine

This figure with one head and two arms, riding a snow lion and wielding a vajra sceptre in his right hand, is very much like one of the five ‘gyalpo’ deities except that he doesn’t hold a wooden staff in his left hand. Instead, he holds a wrenched human heart towards his mouth, which identifies him as Dorje Legpa.

18th-19th century, Tibet, Dorje Legpa? (labelled ‘Gyalchen Shugden’, gilt bronze), private collection, photo on Sotheby’s

This was originally posted as Dorje Shugden (also known as Gyalchen Shugden), who may also hold a human heart in his left hand. However, as recalled in an article devoted to buddhist protectors, Dorje Shugden (or at least the form who rides a lion) wears monkish garments and therefore his right arm is always bare, unlike the above. If this is Dorje Legpa, he once had a vajra sceptre in his right hand. (see here ).