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Elikhina Yu., Ivanov D. Tsam mystery masks from Ladakh in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum and Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Yulia Elikhina
State Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0003-4608-6674
E-mail: julia-elikhina@yandex.ru

 

Dmitrii Ivanov
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0002-3096-2943
E-mail: dmitivanov@gmail.com

 

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ABSTRACT. Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography received a small collection of Buddhist cult objects from the Schlagintweit brothers (MAE No. 748) in 1868. The collection includes four monochrome drawings of the Tsam mystery masks, a Buddhist theatrical performance widespread in the monasteries of Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Ladakh, Mongolia and Buryatia. These masks are quite different from the Mongolian and Buryat masks that are more familiar for Russian researchers. We note the triangular pieces of cloth attached to the lower part of the masks, as well as the fact that two masks have hair braided into thin braids like dreadlocks. This type of mask is common in the Ladakh region in northern India. Hermann Schlagintweit observed a very curious religious performance at the Hemis Buddhist monastery, that belong to the Drukpa Kagyu school, in Ladakh in 1856. Subsequently, this performance was described by the youngest of the brothers, Emil. Some of the characters of this mystery are depicted in the drawings from the collection of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography. It is noteworthy that the images of the three masks from the drawings kept at the MAE RAS match almost completely with the Tsam mystery masks that arrived at the State Hermitage Museum in 1945 from the Museum of Ethnology in Berlin. This allows us to speak about the presence in the State Hermitage Museum collection of the masks from Ladakh, possibly associated with the expedition of the famous Schlagintweit brothers.

 

KEYWORDS: Tsam mystery, masks, Ladakh, Adolf Schlagintweit, Hermann Schlagintweit, Emil Schlagintweit, Robert Schlagintweit

 

FOR CITATION: Elikhina Yu., Ivanov D. Tsam mystery masks from Ladakh in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum and Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Kunstkamera. 2023. 2(20): 18–25. (In Russian). doi 10.31250/2618-8619-2023-2(20)-18-25  

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8619-2023-2(20)-18-25
УДК 069.5

 

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