TIBET, XVIIIÈME-XIXÈME SIÈCLE

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. n°329, ill. p. 265, and two further gilt examples in R. Thurman and D. Weldon, Sacred Symbols, The Ritual Art of Tibet, 1999, cat. n°40 and 41. See a comparable example sold at Christie's, Indian and Southeast Asian Art Including 20th Century Indian Paintings, New York, 23 September 2004, lot 87.