A TIBETAN GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF PALDEN LHAMO

A TIBETAN GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF PALDEN LHAMO
LATE 18TH CENTURY

The fierce Goddess seated on a saddle made of a flayed skin on a mule, with her raised right hand in ahvana mudra and a kapala in her left hand, adorned with beaded jewellery and a garland of severed heads, the face with wrathful fangs, bulging eyes, and a third eye on her forehead, with her flame-like hair secured with a headdress decorated with skulls and a serpent, with a modern perspex stand, 363g, 10cm. (2)

Provenance: from the collection of Mr Nicholas Squire (1949-2024), Suffolk, England.

Cf. Christie's Hong Kong, 9th July 2020, lot 2708 for a closely related figure dated in the Qianlong period (1736-95), see also The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Buddhist Statues of Tibet, p.197, no.188.

Palden Lhamo, the only female among the eight great Dharmapala, is a Wisdom Protector and an enlightened being. Depicted with red hair symbolising her wrathful nature, she rides side-saddle on a white mule. The mule bears an eye on its rump, marking where her enraged husband's arrow struck after she killed their son to protect Buddhism.

十八世紀晚期 銅鎏金吉祥天母班旦拉姆像
來源: 英國薩福克郡Nicholas Squire先生（1949-2024）收藏。