A thangka of Heruka Wangdrag Pema, Tibet, 18th century

Collection of Lionel (1943-2017) and Danielle Fournier.

Christie's Paris, 12th December 2018, lot 51.

Rituels tibétains: Visions secrètes du Ve Dalai Lama, Musée Guimet, Paris, 2002-2003, cat. no. 50.

The thangka depicts the four-legged, three-faced, and winged deity holding a thunderbolt sceptre (vajra) and skull cup (kapala) before him, a hand-held plough (langala) and scorpion in his left hands, a staff (khatvanga) and sickle in the right, with Rahula, Ekajati, and Dorje Legpa below, Sadaksari Avalokiteshvara and Dechen Gyalmo standing to the left and right, with Hayagriva and Vajrakila to the left and right above, Vajrasattva and Samantabhadra in the upper register with Padmasambhava and Dzogchen masters.

Amy Heller has identified the principal winged Heruka deity as Wangdrag Pema and consort, an aspect of Padmasambhava, and the Dzogchen masters seated in the upper register as Garab Dorje and Lochen Darmashri (1654-1717), and to the left below Logchen (1308-1363) with attributes of sword and book, and the Nyingma master Jigme Lingpa (1729-1798) to the right, in Nathalie Bazin, ed., Rituels tibétains: Visions Secrètes du Ve Dalai Lama, Paris, 2002, p. 108.