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Lot Essay
These two gilt-bronze votive plaques are inscribed on the reverse in Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian, and Tibetan. One depicts Tara and the other Avalokiteshvara.
Small votive plaques such as the present examples are known in Tibetan as tsha tsha. These were produced as pilgrims’ souvenirs, portable shrines, or for enshrinement within large stupas to enhance their sanctity. Complete sets comprising 360 plaques have been discovered in the garden of Cining Gong (Palace of Compassion and Tranquility) within the Forbidden City, Beijing. Some of these were commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor in 1749, as discussed by Luo Wenhua in the introduction to Eulogies to the Sacred Images of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Beijing, 2008, p. 8.
For a comparable group of eleven gilt-lacquered terracotta plaques with similar forms and inscriptions, see Christie's Hong Kong, 9 July 2020, lot 2713.
Small votive plaques such as the present examples are known in Tibetan as tsha tsha. These were produced as pilgrims’ souvenirs, portable shrines, or for enshrinement within large stupas to enhance their sanctity. Complete sets comprising 360 plaques have been discovered in the garden of Cining Gong (Palace of Compassion and Tranquility) within the Forbidden City, Beijing. Some of these were commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor in 1749, as discussed by Luo Wenhua in the introduction to Eulogies to the Sacred Images of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Beijing, 2008, p. 8.
For a comparable group of eleven gilt-lacquered terracotta plaques with similar forms and inscriptions, see Christie's Hong Kong, 9 July 2020, lot 2713.