TANGKA REPRÉSENTANT LE PORTRAIT DE DAMARUPATIBET CENTRAL, MONASTÈRE DE NGOR, VERS 1600Distemper on cloth; with original blue cloth mounts inscribed on the reverse along the top in Tibetan, identifying the painting's subject, and also with original red lacquered, gold painted dowel rod; verso inscribed in black ink with 'om, ah, hum' incantations behind each figure and many lines arranged into the form of a stupa,prising Sanskritized and Tibetan prayers and mantras consistent with a formula repeated throughout the Ngorlamdre lineage set of paintings; the painted recto with Tibetan inscriptions in gold identifying the majority of figures, and two separate lines of inscription along the bottom red painted border, the second identifying the secondary 'Chandali Perfection Stage Lineage' sequence of figures within the painting, the first an homage to the central subject, translated:'Seeing the excellent meaning of reality,By releasing from worldly practiceAnd remaining in the conduct of aplishment;To Damarupa, I bow.'Himalayan Art Resources item no. 88707Image: 78.5 x 67 cm (30 7/8 x26 3/8 in.);With silks: 126 x 68 cm (49 5/8 x 26 3/4 in.)Provenance: A PORTRAIT THANGKA OF DAMARUPACENTRAL TIBET, NGOR MONASTERY, CIRCA 1600藏中 俄爾寺 約1600年 達瑪如巴肖像唐卡Published:Pratapaditya Pal, Tibetan Painting, Basel, 1984, pl. 40.Wisdom Calendar of Tibetan Art, Schneelowe Verlagsberatung und Verlag, Haldenwang, 1987 (October).Pratapaditya Pal, Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure, 2003, p. 262, no. 174.Rob Linrothe, Holy Madness: Portraits of Tantric Siddhas, New York, 2006, pp. 300-1, no. 51.David Jackson, The Nepalese Legacy in Tibetan Painting, New York, 2010, pp. 22 & 41, fig. 2.23. Exhibited:Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure, Art Institute of Chicago, 5 April – 17 August 2003; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., 18 October 2003 – 11 January 2004. Holy Madness: Portraits of Tantric Siddhas, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 11 February – 3 September 2006.The Nepalese Legacy in Tibetan Painting, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 3 September 2010 – 23 May 2011. Provenance:Schoettle Ostasiatica, Stuttgart, 1982Michael Henss Collection, ZurichOne of the best-preserved paintings from the famous Ngor lamdre lineage set, this near-pristineposition depicts Mahasiddha Damarupa, 'The Drummer'. According to traditional accounts, Damarupa trained under Kanha at every potent charnel ground and site of tantric power in India, prompting his zestful depiction. In addition to being the third mortal master of the lamdre tradition, Damarupa is a renowned adept of the important Chakrasamvara Tantra, which theposition alludes to through the pair of Chakrasamvara deities from differing teaching traditions in the corners at either side of his ornate throne-back. His eponymous damaru, a double-sided hand drum, embodies one of three principal ritual instruments of a tantric practitioner, alongsi