TIBET, CIRCA 18TH CENTURY

Details

A Gilt Copper Repoussé Kalachakra Dance Mask
Tibet, circa 18th Century
Very finely worked in gilt copper repoussé delineating the arched brows and opening of the mouth surrounded by scrolling flame borders and topped by the third eye
9 in. (23 cm.) high

Literature

Exhibition catalogue, The Mirror of Mind, Art of Vajrayana Buddhism, London, Spink & Son, Ltd., 1995, p. 72f., cat. no. 44.
Exhibition catalogue, Monasterios y lamas del Tibet, Madrid, Fundación "La Caixa", 2000, p. 119, cat. no. 60.

Exhibited

London, Spink & Son, Ltd., The Mirror of Mind, Art of Vajrayana Buddhism, cat. no. 44, June 1995.
Madrid, Fundación "La Caixa", Monasterios y lamas del Tibet, cat. no. 60, November 2000 - January 2001.

Lot Essay

Masks of this type were worn by lamas performing ritual dances during Kalachakra initiations, and attached to their headdresses. The design is reduced to essential outlines, forming a striking appearance during the ritual; compare with another example in G. Béguin, Dieux et démons de l'Himâlaya, 1977, cat. no. 329, ill. p. 265, and two further gilt examples in R. Thurman and D. Weldon, Sacred Symbols, The Ritual Art of Tibet, 1999, cat. nos. 40 and 41.

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