TIBET, 18TH/19TH CENTURY

Details

A Pair of Gilt Copper Repoussé Deer
Tibet, 18th/19th Century
Well modeled standing foursquare, each with its head raised and ears pricked, the male with a short single horn, the hooves, eyes and inside ears painted in polychrome
15½ in. (39.3 cm.) high (2)

Special notice

This lot is offered subject to a reserve, which is the confidential minimum price below which the lot will not be sold.

Lot Essay

The deer in their attentive attitude symbolize the audience of Shakyamuni Buddha's first teaching at the deer park of Sarnath after attaining enlightenment. He preached the eight-fold path towards liberation from the suffering of unenlightened life. The deer would have flanked an eight-spoked wheel of Dharma, symbolizing the Buddhist teaching or 'Turning of the Wheel', and are generally placed above the front gate of a Buddhist monastery, allowing the path towards liberation and happiness to progress.

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