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| View Original: | Tibetan - Ascetic Master - Walters 543009.jpg (768x1274) | |||
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| Keywords: Tibetan - Ascetic Master - Walters 543009.jpg The inscription on the back is problematic and does not provide sufficient information to identify this figure Therefore the date of the portrait suggested here is based entirely on stylistic considerations It has all the characteristics of metal images representing teachers that were made in Newar workshops in south-central Tibet especially Tsang Particularly noteworthy is the treatment of the robe with finely incised vegetal designs This portrait comes from the same artistic milieu as several others of the 15th-16th centuries widely dispersed in various collections e g Uhlig 1995 nos 123-24 126-27 and 134 The teacher is represented as a grub thob or a Tibetan siddha His hair is tied in an ascetic topknot and his silver-inlaid wide eyes emphasize his yogic power Additionally he has large distinctive spiral earrings and wears the crossbelt of a hero channavira which is often given to the mahasiddhas He sits on a deer skin atop a lotus but not in the meditation posture Rather it is the relaxed royal ease posture maharajalilia with the right knee raised His left hand holds the vase of immortality while the right wields a thunderbolt The goatee may be the only individual feature of this idealized but handsome portrait century 16 bronze with silver inlay cm 11 7 accession number 54 3009 8429 John and Berthe Ford Baltimore date and mode of acquisition unknown Walters Art Museum John Berthe Ford 2002 Desire and Devotion Art from India Nepal and Tibet in the John and Berthe Ford Collection The Walters Art Museum Baltimore; Birmingham Museum of Art Birmingham; Santa Barbara Museum of Art Santa Barbara; Albuquerque Museum Albuquerque 2001-2003 place of origin Tibet Walters Art Museum license Tibetan art in the Walters Art Museum Bronze statues of Tibet | ||||
