Figure 7: White Tara
distemper on cotton
59.8 x 24.8 cm
coll. Alaim Bordier Foundation, Geneva, [ABP 38]
published in, and photo after
von Schoeder, Ulrich and Heidi, 2009, Tibetan Art of the Alain Bordier Foundation
Hong Kong: Visual Dharma Publications, pl 5, p. 22 in
inscribed in devanagari : śrī ripumalla ciraṃ (or, ściraṃ) jayatu, May Śrī Ripumalla live long”
(The same inscription is seen on the Dakini of fig. 5 and is found as a graffiti on the Ashokan pillar inscription of Niglihawa in the Nepal Terai, while a similar inscription is found as a graffiti on the nearby Lumbini Ashokan pillar)
The painting shows Ripumalla, on the right side of the painting with likely one of his sons on the left side, worshipping White Tara.
The long braid worn by the king is seen also in a donor portrait of a Khasa Malla king, (details 2 and 3). It is possible this sculpture is a portrait of Ripumalla.
Detail 1: inscription
Detail 2: portrait of a Khasa Malla King as a donor (perhaps Ripumalla)
private Asian collection
Nyingjei Lam collection, Hong Kong
Christies Paris, June 12, 2012, lot 420
private collection, Europe from 1995
Collection Jan Miog, den Haage, Netherlands, from 1970s
Detail 3: Detail 2, back.