A TIBETAN REPOUSSE POLYCHROME AND GILT-COPPER PLAQUE DEPICTING NAGARAJA

14TH/15TH CENTURY

Nagaraja (the Naga King) depicted as an anthropomorphic deity, his head framed by a canopy of three serpents, he brandishes a sword and holds a flaming chakra, an ancient Indian weapon, his expressive face framed by dark hair and surmounted by an ornate three-pronged crown, he wears a fine dhoti and sumptuous jewellery including sacred thread, the serpent deity surrounded by flames highlighted with traces of red pigment, together with a modern stand, 31cm, 441g. (2)

Provenance: from a French private collection, acquired in the 1980s.

Cf. The Albuquerque Museum, Tibet: Tradition and Change, p.118, pl.59 for a similar 14th century repoussé image of Nagaraja from the Densatil Monastery, Central Tibet, in the Zimmerman Family Collection.

Naga is the Sanskrit word for 'serpent'. In Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, naga are semi-divine beings which are half-human and half-snake. They can assume wholly serpentine or anthropomorphic forms and often serve as guardians and protectors to humans. As symbols of regeneration, they are believed to have the power to bring or withhold rains and to recover gems, both material and spiritual.