QUATRE GAUS DE CHITIPATI, DEUX AVEC TSATSA TIBET ET MONGOLIE, XIXE/DÉBUT DU XXE SIÈCLEQUATRE GAUS DE CHITIPATI, DEUX AVEC TSATSATIBET ET MONGOLIE, XIXE/DÉBUT DU XXE SIÈCLEThe images comprised of two clay tsatsa, one painting, and one of carved wood.Himalayan Art Resources item no. 205459 22 cm (8 5/8 in.), the highest FOUR GAUS WITH CHITIPATITIBET AND MONGOLIA, 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY西藏及蒙古 十九世紀/二十世紀初 屍陀林主嘎烏盒四件 其二帶擦擦Chitipati are a divine skeleton couple also and initially known as Shri Shmashana Adhipati, "the lord and lady of the charnel ground." They act as protector deities, particularly against thieves and grave robbers, vowing to destroy enemies of the Dharma. They are closely associated with the Chakrasamvara Tantra and visually represented as intertwined jovial skeletal figures, each holding various attributes, dancing in a halo of wild flames. Their wrathful and skeletal appearance can be likened to a momento mori, acting as a reminder of death and the temporality of all things. As macabre lords of the cremation grounds, they serve to remind Tibetans of the inevitability of death and decay, while at the same time, to celebrate one's ultimate liberation from duality. A much beloved subject in Tibetan Buddhism, the Chitipati are represented on thangkas and appliques, in sculpture, on wooden shrines and furniture, and as elaborate costumes worn during ceremonial dances (Cham), in a visual type that becomes standardized for centuries. Even in early representations of the subject, as illustrated in a 15th-century thangka in the Rubin Museum of Art (F1996.16.5), the iconography of the couple's interlocking legs, the skull staff and blood-filled skull cup attributes, and skull crowns framed within a flaming aureole are similarly found on 20th-century depictions.