Thangka depicting Simhamukha, Tibet, 18th-19th century - Lot 182

Thangka depicting Simhamukha, Tibet, 18th-19th century Black and polychrome pigments on canvas with green textile frame. The Dakini of wisdom Simhamukha, originally with a blue-black body (here the pigments have disappeared due to poor cleaning), has a face, two hands, three red eyes, visible fangs and a curved tongue. The right hand holds aloft a katrika. The left carries a blood-filled skullcap and a three-pronged khatvanga stick in the hollow of the left elbow. Hair, eyebrows and beard reaching upwards, with five dry human heads as a crown and fifty wet heads, dripping with blood, as a necklace. Five bone ornaments and a tiger skin as lower garment. He stands on his left leg, right raised, amid a blazing fire of immaculate consciousness. He is surrounded at the four corners by four deities with the same attributes, while in the center, above, sits Amitabha Buddha. 50 x 35 cm Pigment loss and wear.