TIBET, 17TH-18TH CENTURY

The present painting depicts the lion-faced protector deity, Shingkyong Wangpo, at center seated on a horse; his companion, Sengdongma, red in color and smaller in size, rides across the foreground just below him. The two are surrounded by a multitude of retinue figures, including the Bamro – two monkeys standing on their hands and supporting bowls of food offerings with their feet. Padmasambhava is seated at top center, flanked by unidentified lamas. Shingkyong Wangpo originates in Nyingma teachings, but was worshipped by the Karma Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism and it is likely this painting was created within a Karma Kagyu monastery. Another black-ground painting of Shingkyong Wangpo, with Sengdongma, the Bamro, and Padhmasambhava, formerly in the collection of Lionel Fournier, is illustrated by G. Béguin, Art ésotérique de l’Himalaya: La donation Lionel Fournier, Paris, 1990, p. 146, cat. No. 83.