Oil Lamp With Citipati Decoration, 19th Century, Nepal, Tibet

This oil lamp is decorated with a large terracotta figure of Citipati.
She wraps her legs around the small container containing the oil and the lighting wick.
Enigmatic overmodeled faces appear around the edge of the object.
Tibet or Nepal, late 19th century.
Mint condition.

"The representations of the Citipati are there to remind us of the impermanence of the things of this world. During Cham dances, in Tibetan monasteries, they accompany the entry of divinities into the courtyard of the monasteries. We find them in multiple forms in thangka, tsakali, in statues..."
Bibliography: The Dance of the Dead – Citipati of the Himalayas – Dances Macabre and Vanities of the West. Galerie Le Toit du Monde, Editions Findakly, 2004.