Property of a Lady Tibet 19th Century A Sidpaho painting (p...

Hammer

£900

Property of a Lady

Tibet
19th Century
A Sidpaho painting (protective astrological chart)
Pigments on cloth
Extensively inscribed, verso

This Sidpaho painting is a protective astrological chart which traditionally functioned as a talisman in Tibetan households.

In the centre is a tortoise, a metaphor for creation. The nine magic numbers (sme ba dgu) are surrounded by the eight trigrams (spar kha brgyad). The twelve animals of the zodiac combined with the five elements, form the sixty-year cycle of the Tibetan calendar.

Along the top, Indian deities, planetary deities, and important stars are shown, including three Bodhisattvas, Avalokiteśvara, Vajrapāṇi and Mañjuśrī, who are also called the protectors of the three families.

Provenance:
Purchased by the current owner at Sotheby's in London during the 1980s.

Dimensions:
(Cloth) 20 in. (H) x 12.25 in. (W)
(Frame) 21 in. (H) x 13.5 in. (W)