Page 62 - Sporer Collection of Himalayan bronzes
P. 62
Dr. Edita Sporer, 1931
23 PROVENANCE:
A GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF PALDEN LHAMO
TIBET, 17TH CENTURY The Sporer Collection, New Jersey, acquired by 4 March 1973
The ferce goddess seated sideways on a fayed skin atop a mule, over PUBLISHED:
a rocky oval base incised with wave patterns, holding a skull cup
in one hand, the other arm raised, a garland of severed heads over Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.org), item no. 24036
her shoulders, adorned in beaded jewelry, a snake and a billowing
scarf, her wrathful face with bulging eyes and a third eye centered by The wrathful form of Shri Lakshmi, Palden Lhamo, which translates to
faming brows, her wrathful fangs gripping a prone fgure, her fame- glorious goddess, is the principle female wisdom protector of Tantric
like hair containing serpents and topped with a skull diadem, heavily Buddhism, as well as the main companion of the enlightened protector
gilt with pigment remaining Mahakala. She is almost always depicted riding side-saddle atop her mount,
6Ω in. (16.5 cm.) high the mule, through an ocean of blood.
$25,000-35,000 Compare with a similar work in the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis
University, which also depicts the protectoress with a richly gilt surface and
red polychromy details (M. Rhie, Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art
of Tibet, 1991, p.303, fg.116).
60 THE SPORER COLLECTION OF HIMALAYAN SCULPTURE
