A PAIR OF GILT COPPER ALLOY MONGOOSES


TIBET, 19TH/20TH CENTURYHimalayan Art Resources item no.61701 Each 16 cm (6 1/4 in.) long
|西藏 十九/二十世紀 銅鎏金吐寶鼠一對Looking at the pair, one realizes mongooses are not native to Tibet. However, the gilded sculptures are also testaments to the conservative approach Tibetans took in preserving core Indian Buddhist teachings and iconography. The wealth deities Jambhala and Vaishravana squeeze such mythic mongooses that spit out gems. These bronzes would have likely served as part of a set of paired auspicious Buddhist creatures. ProvenanceRobert Bouatta, London, 2005