Stone. Tibet, old
A slightly elongated triangular form, with frontal figural relief, presumably showing a naked siddha, seated with open legs and standing hair. An approx. 1,5 cm deep triangular opening on his breast. Siddha are beings which attained supernatural abilities. The item could perhaps be a ritual object or a decorations related to rituals. The thinner areas produce a yellow-red translucency when placed against a strong focussed light, similar to nephrite. Black coating and patina. SIZE 8,1 x 7,5 x 4 CM (HWD)
From the former collection of Heinrich Harrer
Harrer, a mountaineer, adventurous explorer and writer, gained worldwide prominence for his ground-breaking ascent up the Eiger’s north face in 1938 and later for his book “7 Years in Tibet†(1952, translated into 53 languages). In the course of his escape from a British prisoner-of-war camp in India, Harrer, together with Aufschnaiter, was the first ever European to reach Lhasa, where he stayed until 1951. During his stay he became the teacher of the Dalai Lhama, with whom he fled to India during the Sino-Tibetan conflict in 1950/51, sharing a lasting friendship together until the end of his days. The book, which tells of this adventurous escape and his time in Tibet, was made into a blockbuster film in 1997, starring Brad Pitt in the lead role. Harrer, who lived in Hüttenberg (Carinthia) until 2006, was personally acquainted with us and regularly contributed important objects from his collection – most of which was obtained by the Rietberg Museum in Zurich – to earlier exhibitions in our gallery, which was located in Vienna’s Schulerstraße at the time.