SHERAP CHAMMA - ‚LOVING GODDESS OF WISDOM‘

Estimated Value:

1.200 € - 1.800 €

Result:

906 € incl. Premium and VAT

Description:

Tibet, 19th c.
47.5 x 31.5 cm, R.
Sherap Chamma, (Shes rab byams ma) "Loving Goddess of Wisdom" - is a female deity of the Bon tradition, and an emanation of the deity Satrig Ersang, the "Mother of Wisdom". She is considered to be an equivalent of Green Tara as the "helper from Eight Dangers". She is also seen as an emanation of the Buddhist wisdom goddess Prajnaparamita. Her iconographic colour is golden yellow. She holds a vase in her left hand in front of her heart, and a mirror in her right hand in her lap. She is crowned with a fivefold crown and dressed in golden jewellery. On her body she wears silk robes. She is enthroned in a diamond seat on a lotus above a white moon disc. Her body is surrounded by a broad aura, and her head by a gloriole. Peonies of different colours frame her appearance, which radiates peace and harmony. Scattered across the picture are her eight emanations as emergency helpers and the Five Loving Goddesses, as well as the Four Gatekeepers at the bottom of the picture, as they traditionally appear in a mandala. This thangka is an "open" mandala, which is not depicted with a circle and square, as is usually the case. Numerous believers or enlightened people group themselves in groups of two or three around the respective appearance of the deity. "The Five Loving Goddesses": The Loving Goddess of Wisdom: Shes rab Byams ma. The Blissful Deliverer of Skillful Means - Thabs chen bde sgrol; The Keeper of the Treasures of Heaven - Nam mkha'i mdzod 'dzin; The Loving Goddess of Mercy - Thugs rje byams ma; The All-Famous of the Appearance World - sNang srid kun grags. "Protectors from the Eight Dangers": from fear of enemies; from fear of magic; from fear of family members; from fear of snakes; from fear of heretics; from fear of harm; from fear of death; from fear of planets. "The Four Gatekeepers": the goddess holding a hook; the goddess holding a bell the red mistress holding an iron chain; the black mistress holding a rope. Numerous groups of two and three are scattered throughout the painting, these are possibly enlightened ones without vows, or adorants. Tempera and gold on cotton canvas, framed under glass.
Collection Joachim Baader, Munich, acquired in Tibet before 1970, sold at Nagel, 21.5.2004, lot 2001 and bought by the present owner
Literature: The Bon Religion of Tibet, The Iconography of a Living Tradition; Per Kvaerne, London, 1995: Per Kvaerne, The Bon Religion of Tibet; Serindia, London, 1995: p.28, pl. 10 + 11. Bön - Die lebendige Ur-Religion Tibets; Christoph Baumer; Graz; 1999: ill. p. 183 - Traces of age and minor wear

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