The Dakini Nairatmya

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The Dakini Nairatmya

Central Tibet, 16th century
Sculpture
Gilt brass inlaid with turquoise; paint
9 1/4 x 5 3/4 x 4 1/2 in. (23.5 x 14.61 x 11.43 cm)
From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase (M.70.1.4)
South and Southeast Asian Art
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

...
Nairatmya (Selfless One) is a Buddhist Dakini (Female Sky-goer), which is a class of enticing demigoddesses. She is the consort of Hevajra (see M.85.115.3, and M.81.6). She is usually portrayed in union with Hevajra or as a dancing figure (see M.85.221). Here, however, she sits alone in the relaxed posture (lalita asana) on a corpse atop a double lotus base. She has a third eye, an ascetic’s piled hair painted red and crowned by a thunderbolt (vajra), a tiara, and profuse jewelry. She wears an antelope skin around her waist. Atypically, her nipples are in the form of a perforated circle similar to the pericarp of a lotus. Her right hand holds a flaying knife (kartika) and her left holds a skullcup (kapala). A comparable 17th-century sculpture of Nairatmya is in the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, New York (C2018.3.1).
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Bibliography

  • Pal, Pratapaditya.  The Art of Tibet.  New York:  The Asia Society, Inc., 1969.
  • Beguin, Gilles. Dieux et Demons de l'Himalaya: Art du Bouddhisme Lamaique.  Paris: Grand Palais, 1977.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya.  Art of Tibet.  Los Angeles; Berkeley, CA:  Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1983.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya.  The Art of Tibet.  New York:  The Asia Society, Inc., 1969.
  • Beguin, Gilles. Dieux et Demons de l'Himalaya: Art du Bouddhisme Lamaique.  Paris: Grand Palais, 1977.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya.  Art of Tibet.  Los Angeles; Berkeley, CA:  Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1983.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Tibet. Expanded edition. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1990.
  • Rhie, Marylin M. and Robert A.F. Thurman.  Wisdom and Compassion:  The Sacred Art of Tibet.  New York:  Tibet House, 1991.
  • Reedy, Chandra L.  Himalayan Bronzes:  Technology, Style and Choices.  Newark:  University of Delaware Press, 1997.
  • Fisher, Robert E.  Art of Tibet.  London:  Thames and Hudson, 1997.
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