|
|
previous image || Warriors
of the Himalayas main exhibition || next image
Helmet
Mongolian, 15th–17th century
Iron, gold
H. 7 5/8 in. (19.5 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase,
Gift of William H. Riggs, by exchange, 1999 (1999.120)
cat. no. 16
The gold damascened decoration
of this distinctively Mongol-style helmet features six large
ovals containing Yamantaka, literally “slayer of the
lord of death,” and five female deities called dakinis.
In between them are twelve protective bija, or
seed syllables, flanked by Tibetan inscriptions identifying
the protective attributes of each one. The brow of the helmet
is encircled by a series of mantras, including invocations
to Yamataka and the dakinis. In the center of the
brow is the All-Powerful Ten, a monogram of the ten Sanskrit
syllables of the Kalachakra mantra. Next to it is a chorten,
a stylized reliquary that represents the mind of enlightenment.
Detail: close up
|
all text & images © Metropolitan Museum
of Art |
previous image
|| Warriors of the Himalayas main exhibition
|| next image
|
|