An antique, 19th Century or earlier depicting, within a saffron and yellow elongated nimbus and a pinkish red mandorla, the green bodied semi wrathful goddess Vajravarahi, the 'Diamond Sow' - her identifying attribute, the sow's head protruding from behind her 3 pointed diadem. Vajravarahi is an important deity for tantric initiation, especially for new initiates. She is found to have interceded in the lives of the 84 Mahasiddhas than any other deity. Some of the notable figures in the history of the teachings are said to have received direct transmissions from the goddess herself. She dances on an open lotus flower dressed in a tiger-skin dhoti and a flayed elephant skin, her green celestial scarf flowing extravagantly about her, brandishing a chopper in her right hand which is in tarjani mudra, the gesture of warning, and a skull cup, while gazing intently at the viewer. Two red inscriptions in Tibetan text - one smudged.
11.3 x 13.1cm