An attractive copper and brass food container from Tibet. I am attracted by its simplicity and note that the copper part is brass brazed with a large dovetail seam around the middle.
Approximately 28.5cm high. One or two small dents from use...
According to many Indians, this old juicer would also doubled as a pasta maker. With the carved animal heads on each side, and great aged patina, it makes an interesting sculptural artifact of India's culture.
Measures 12 high, 10 inches wide and 6 inches deep.
Indian Jain painting. Inks on paper. Western India. 19th cent. or earlier. 51 x 53 cm.
Backed onto new paper with losses evident. Can be viewed in central London by arrangement.
Statue of a standing woman in formal dress, with an unusual necklace supporting a Christian cross. Wood, with fine glossy patina. India, 19th century. Height: 18.5 cm. The statue is nicely mounted on a custom stand. Abrasion due to age, otherwise good condition.
Late 19th to early 20th century Indian bronze votive sculpture of Ganesha sitting on Mooshika - a bandicoot rat that serves as Ganesha’s vehicle - on rectangular base. Ganesha is the remover of obstacles, and thus is invoked before any new undertaking such as marriage or new business. He bestows good luck on his worshippers, and is prayed to in some forms of Tantric worship...
This is a fragment from a Tibetan gilt copper mandorla, one of the side pieces that would have surrounded the central statue/figure. It measures 9-1/2" in height and is 3" at its widest point. The design, as the photos will show, is in four registers, with the Buddha uppermost. The workmanship is of excellent quality as, hopefully, the photos will confirm. There is a tiny split in the left edge so that the top panel could become detached if the piece were handled roughly...
Unusual mask with flat top, small forehead, relief pierced through eyes, protruding nose, open mouth showing pierced through teeth, short rounded chin. Wood, dark patina. Remnants of thin superimposed layers of polychrome pigments. Himalayan Region, early 19th century, probably earlier. Height: 10 1/4" (26 cm). The mask is nicely mounted on a custom metal stand which enhances its strange beauty. Old accident at base of chin, some erosion and flaking, otherwise very good condition...
Head of a moustached nobleman, wearing an elaborate turban, with an interesting mixture of Greek and Indian features. Grey schist. Pakistan, Gandhara Graeco-Buddhist period, 1st to 3rd century. The head is nicely munted on a custom stand. Height (without stand): 4 1/2" (11,4 cm). Nose and chin slightly chipped, otherwise good condition.
Late 17th to early 18th century devotional Jain bronze of Goddess Padmavati seated on a base with one foot pending. Padmavati is the sasana-devi (protective Goddess) of the 23rd Tirthankara, Lord Parshvanatha. Padmavati is protected by an open hood of a cobra (old loss to the hood) whose body is forming a knot above her shoulders. She is holding an ankus (elephant goad), a lotus stem and a fruit in her hands, and her front right hand is in abhaya (no fear) mudra...
Nepalese Mask of a Humla Aesthete with a Thorja Topknot. 11 inches, 28 cm. From the collection of Irwin Hersey, renowned author on Asian and primitive art, and publisher of the Primitive Art Newsletter in the 1970s. Irwin Hersey was an advisor to museums and prominent collectors, and vetted pieces for many of the international tribal art fairs and Asian art fairs.
Architectural element carved to represent Garuda, the vehicle of Hindu god Vishnu, half bird half man, holding the Naga snake in his claws. Wood, with light brown patina. Nepal, 15th century or earlier. Height: 6 1/2" (16,5 cm) Length: 8 7/8" (22,5 cm). Strong erosion, old insect infestation (treated, no danger), otherwise good condition.
Antique Tibetan tsakli card depicting a beast-headed ḍākinī. Painted in mineral colors on paper with Sanskrit writing on the back.
Tsakli cards are powerful miniature paintings of Buddhist deities and objects. They have many different ritual uses. They can be used for teaching when a lama holds the card out for a student to focus on, thus helping them with the visualization and meditation on that deity and what it represents...
Indian teaching diagram. 19th century. Inks on paper. 46x63cm. Framed. Can be viewed in central London by arrangement or defamed and shipped worldwide.
Leather Tibetan Trunk with Peach and Clouds, 18th/19th century
56"L 20.5D 29H, Colored with green, yellow, blue and reds, Central Lozenge with Peach and Scrolling Vine, Outside Clouds, borders by Scrolling Vines, Iron Strapping Bands, hand-sawn wood surfaces, pitted loss to front face by peach.
Head of Bhairava with a fierce expression, wearing a crown of skulls, with flying hair. A small opening in the mouth allowed the insertion of a pipe (now gone), through which consecrated beer was flowing. Two loops at the back for attachment. Wood, with traces of red ritual material. Nepal, 19th century, maybe earlier. Height: 13" (33 cm). The head is nicely mounted on a custom metal stand. Very good condition.
Attractive early antique Betel crusher instrument, Ceylon, 18th. century.
The piece in two parts, consisting of the betel knife with a Bird finial and the container where to put your nuts!
Size: 18 cm. tall when knife is inside and the bird on top, the knife is c. 16,5 cm. long by itself
Condition: Choice, fine chestnut brown bronze patina with fine smooth wear from use.
Ex. Old Danish Private Collection
Antique Tibetan silver incense burner in three pieces. Created as a smaller version of a kapala (skull cup) ritual vessel for Buddhist ceremonies. The censor seats into a triangular base covered with designs of swirling mist and Sanskrit symbols. The lid is similarly decorated and has a vajra finial.
Age: 19th century
Dimensions: 7 3/4" high x 4 1/4" wide x 4 1/2" wide
Tibetan seated figure likely that of arhat Ajita, one of the 16 arhats. He is identified by two corresponding features; his hands which are resting in his lap in dhyanamudra (the gesture of mediation) and his covered head. His face is handsome (due to an accumulation of virtue) and his gaze is tranquil. Made of gilt copper repousse and with silver repousse over laid details. He sits on a lotus base and his facial features are painted.
Age: circa 1900