Tibetan ritual apron element - Lot 366

Tibetan ritual apron element Bone, polychrome remains Tibet, 16th/17th century H. 15.2 cm This element of a ritual apron is finely carved with a female figure holding a katvanga staff terminating in a vajra, dancing and trampling a figure symbolizing ignorance. She holds a kapala (skull cap) in one hand, and is surmounted by a Buddha. Composed of multiple carved elements like this one, ritual bone aprons were used in Tibetan tantric practices. This element of ritual finery, whose name means "infinite meditation", was part of a set (rüpe'i gyen) comprising a tiara, armbands, bracelets, anklets, skirt and rosaries. The fierce deities and citipatis, or representations of elements such as charnel houses and human body parts, often found in Tibetan art, are perceived and used by the tantric yogi as a support for meditation and a tool on the path to pure perception of things. For a well-documented article on Tibetan ritual ornaments, see Jean-Luc Estournel, "Rus-pa'i-rgyan - Parures rituelles tibétaines en os humain", Revue de l'Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art, 1992.