65 - RARE STANDING PADMAPANI TSA TSA TIBET 12TH CENTURY

RARE STANDING PADMAPANI TSA TSA TIBET 12TH CENTURY Dimensions: Height 7 cm Wide 4 cm Depth 1 cm Weight: 51 grams with base A small moulded votive relief, or tsa-tsa, showing a standing crowned figure within a rounded arched niche. The body is slender and frontally posed, with a scarf or sash falling in long curves at either side and a lotus-like motif rising beside the shoulder. Yellow pigment fills much of the background, while red-brown colouring remains on the figure and the ornamental border. The relief is held upright on a simple black display stand, allowing its worn, uneven surface and surviving colour to be appreciated at close range. Padmapani, the lotus-bearing aspect of Avalokiteshvara, is an important figure in Tibetan Buddhist devotional culture. Padmapani expresses the bodhisattva's compassion, while the lotus symbolizes purity amid the conditions of worldly existence. Tsa-tsas were produced from moulds as small sacred images and could serve in personal practice, offerings and the accumulation of religious merit. Their modest material and scale are integral to their purpose: this example retains an immediate devotional character despite losses to its original surface.