Five Great Kings
c. 1800
Asia: China, Tibet
Not on View

The main figure in this composition is Pehar, a wrathful Central Asian deity who was installed as a protector of Buddhism in Tibet in the eighth century. With a dark-blue complexion, three bulging eyes and long, curling fingernails, Pehar rides a white elephant and brandishes a lasso and sharpened knife. He and the four corner figures are the Five Kings, or five aspects of Pehar: Body, Mind, Speech, Knowledge and Activity. The Five Kings each wear the distinctive round black Mongolian hat with a skull and vajra on top, indicative of their foreign status. The figure at the bottom center is a blacksmith protector, a Tibetan transformation of the fire god Agni, who rides a shaggy goat with twisted horns and holds a vajra hammer and tiger-skin bellows. At the top center of the painting is another important protector figure, Hayagriva. The silk brocade surrounding the painting is decorated with the svastika, an auspicious symbol that appears on a range of sacred objects and symbolizes good fortune.

Details

  • Title: Five Great Kings
  • Date: c. 1800
  • Medium: Opaque watercolor on cotton with silk border
  • Dimensions: comp: 17-1/4 x 14-1/2 in. (43.8 x 36.8 cm); mount: 30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
  • Credit Line: Norton Simon Museum, Gift of Arnold H. Lieberman
  • Accession Number: P.2000.06.3
  • Copyright: © Norton Simon Museum

Object Information

Divine Demons: Wrathful Deities of Buddhist Art

  • Norton Simon Museum, 2009-08-14 to 2010-03-08
  • Pal, Pratapaditya, Asian Art at the Norton Simon Museum, Volume 2: Art from the Himalayas & China, 2003, no. 139 pp. 19, 204-205

Image reproduction permission may be granted for scholarly or arts related commercial use. All image requests, regardless of their intended purpose, should be submitted via the reproduction request form.

Images may be protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. Additional permission may be required.

Approved requests for the reproduction of an image will receive a contract detailing all fees and conditions of use of the image. Upon receipt of both the signed contract and full payment, the Office of Rights and Reproductions will provide the image. A complimentary copy of the published material must be provided to the Norton Simon Museum.

Reproduction Request Form