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4. Crown Ties West Tibet 13th c. Gilt wood and pigment each c. 21 cm. / 8 1/4 in. |
This pair of carved wooden crown ties once attached to a five-leaf ceremonial crown, very possibly that represented by the leaf in the previous entry (no. 2). As can be seen in painted and sculpted images of the period, the rosettes would have been secured to the crown just above the ears ensuring that the leonine masks face the back of the head as they issue the crown's cloth ties, here represented in carved wood. 11 A c. thirteenth century date can be proffered, like the previous example, on the basis of comparisons with Tibetan carved wooden bookcovers. 12 11. E.g., the c. late twelfth century painting of Vairocana and Attendants in the Cleveland Museum of Art, published in Kossak and Singer, Sacred Visions, pp. 80-82; and a Buddha sculpture at Kyangbu monastery (now destroyed), published in Li Gotami Govinda, Tibet in Pictures 2 vols. (Berkeley Ca., 1979), vol. 1, p. 41. 12. See note 10. |