Tibetan Hand Painted Tsakli Ritual Card

Orange-red limbs flung wide against a dark red ground.

Tibetan painters made this hand painted tsakli ritual card in the early 19th century, in paper and pigment. Tsakli cards are commonly used in Tibetan Buddhist rites of initiation and may show wrathful or peaceful deities. The central figure is bright orange-red, with arms out and legs bent in a striding pose, surrounded by dark red and small touches of yellow and green. The paint is rich and slightly crackled. It is framed in black over a wide white mat.

The frame measures about 18 by 15 inches. Energetic, even at this scale.