Mark Rasmussen
International Director
Lot 40
A Bon Po thangka of Tagla Membar Tibet, 19th century
18 September 2013, 10:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$12,500 inc. premium
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A Bon Po thangka of Tagla Membar
Tibet, 19th century
Distemper on cloth; Encircled by flames and standing on a lotus throne supported by various beasts, the central deity in alidhasana above prostrate figures, with his right and left hands outstretched holding the golden wheel and nine swords, adorned with a crown of five dry skulls, gold earrings, necklaces and freshly severed heads, and wearing a green scarf and human and animal skins; numerous retinue figures surround him, including Sipai Gyamo, the Queen of the World, and Sidya Temor on a red mule in the bottom corners, the Red Tiger-faced One directly below him, the five Female Mamo Mind Emanations with the multicolored leader holding a stupa to his left, the animals of the four directions, Tonpa Shenrab directly above him, and Kunzung Gyawa Dupa flanked by two Bon Po hierarchs at the apex.
Image: 37 x 24 in. (94 x 61 cm)
Distemper on cloth; Encircled by flames and standing on a lotus throne supported by various beasts, the central deity in alidhasana above prostrate figures, with his right and left hands outstretched holding the golden wheel and nine swords, adorned with a crown of five dry skulls, gold earrings, necklaces and freshly severed heads, and wearing a green scarf and human and animal skins; numerous retinue figures surround him, including Sipai Gyamo, the Queen of the World, and Sidya Temor on a red mule in the bottom corners, the Red Tiger-faced One directly below him, the five Female Mamo Mind Emanations with the multicolored leader holding a stupa to his left, the animals of the four directions, Tonpa Shenrab directly above him, and Kunzung Gyawa Dupa flanked by two Bon Po hierarchs at the apex.
Image: 37 x 24 in. (94 x 61 cm)
Footnotes
Tagla Membar, the "Tiger God", is a fierce form of a direct disciple of Tonpa Shenrab who founded the Bon religion. In discussion of a closely related example in the Rubin Museum of Art (HAR200041), Watt and Linrothe explain that although Tagla Member is primarily implemented as a guide leading the practitioner to Bon enlightenment, he is also referred to as a 'doctrinal weapon' employed whenever Bon is being suppressed by Buddhists (see Watt & Linrothe, Demonic Divine, New York, 2004, no. 59). Compare to another thangka with almost identical composition published in Kvaerne, The Bon Religion of Tibet, London, 1995, pp. 124-5.
Provenance:
Private Southwest Collection