Page 20 - Bonhams IMages of Devotion, Hong Kong Nov 30 2022

Despite these similarities, these images when closely compared are not mere
imitations of one another. The face of the present central goddess is narrow with
features delineated with a thick black contouring line, closely linked in style to a
particular Vajravarahi mandala (ibid, pp. 96-9). She wears thick cuffed bracelets
at the wrists, heavy earrings in the shape of cylindrical drums, and a festooned
necklace along her collar, following a closer parallel again to the mandala. The
overall format is less wide than the Kossak Vajravarahi, making the definitions of
each figure more pronounced, though the principal position of the goddess at
center is pronounced in both. Like the Indic models from which these features
of format derive, dimensionally larger figures show rank rather than illustrating
perspectives in space. Tibetans employed this arrangement to reinforce hierarchy
and lineage sequencing, as seen here, and while each of these images is
surrounded by various other deities and lineage figures, in the case of each of
these thangkas, those figures differ.

As Tibetan thangkas of this formative period typically reveal, iconography is mostly
prescribed and formulaic in nature. In the tantric cosmos depicted here, there
is value in appreciating the continuity of form. In effect, this mode of repetition
serves to emblemize religious rites in visual forms. The hierarchy of the main figure
held in tandem with lineage figures and deities playing supporting roles in the
surrounding registers is laid out in an ordered, readable scheme highlighting the
sow-headed wrathful deity who dances in flames. Yet, the syntax of the painting,
as straightforward as it seems, ultimately is meant to inform an esoteric practice
aimed at triumphing over ignorance.

Published
Fabio Rossi, Symbols of Buddhism - Sculpture and Painting from India and the
Himalayas, New York, 2002, no. 4.
Christian Deydier, Arts de la Chine et de l’Himalaya, Paris, Oriental Bronzes Ltd,
1997, pp. 44-5.

Exhibited
Rossi and Rossi, Symbols of Buddhism - Sculpture and Painting from India and
the Himalayas, New York, 2002.

Provenance
Private Swiss Collection, acquired in early 1990s

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