Statue of a Bön God

Tibet, 17th–18th century

Cast bronze, polychrome.

H: 17.5 cm

O 1273

Gift of Vladimír Piskáček, 1999.

This cast bronze statue with polychrome decoration depicts a menacing female Bön god seated on an animal in a half-open lotus pose. She is holding ritual tools in her hands. Prayers are inserted into the closed base, which has an engraved Tibetan inscription with two double vajras. Indigenous to the Tibetan Himalayas, Bön is a pre-Buddhist religion with elements of animism and shamanism.

The sculpture is part of a collection of nearly eighty objects donated to the West Bohemian Museum in Pilsen by collector and Pilsen native Vladimír Richard Piskáček. This collection primarily comprises cult objects associated with Bön and Tibetan Buddhism, including ritual weapons and vessels, amulet cases, jewellery, musical instruments, and several everyday objects like tea containers. (JMl).