{"product_id":"1893-mongolian-viii-bogd-gegen-bogd-khan-devotional-portrait-metal-plaque-st-petersburg-6-8-cm-variation-rare-unrestored-original-issue","title":"1893 Mongolian VIII Bogd Gegen (Bogd Khan) 25th Jubilee Metal Devotional Portrait Plaque – St. Petersburg 6×8 cm Variation, Rare Unrestored Original Issue","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginal Item – Only One Available. An exceptionally scarce 1893 embossed-metal devotional portrait of the VIII Bogd Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, Mongolia’s supreme Buddhist hierarch and the future Bogd Khan, ruler of independent Mongolia. Produced in St. Petersburg for the Bogd Gegen’s 25th birth jubilee, the portrait derives from the celebrated likeness photographed by Ivan Fedorov in 1889 and was distributed among Mongolian devotees in several carefully differentiated formats. Three metal versions are documented: the 6 × 8 cm format represented here, a plain 11 × 16 cm version, and a decorated 11 × 16 cm form incorporating the traditional Seven Treasures of Kingship; when the accompanying paper forms are included, the portrait is known in eight distinct formats. This small 6 × 8 cm example is therefore not simply a miniature portrait but the smallest documented metal variation of the original 1893 devotional issue, created eighteen years before the VIII Bogd was enthroned as sovereign of independent Mongolia in 1911.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe portrait is executed in relief from thin metal and retains its original nineteenth-century polychrome surface, entirely unrestored and untouched. The Bogd is shown beneath a traditional pavilion canopy with drawn curtains, wearing the dark red-brown robe, summer ceremonial headwear and boots associated with the original portrait, his hands resting before him and prayer beads visible at the left. The muted ochre, brown, yellow and red tones, together with naturally worn highlights, oxidation and localized surface losses, are genuine evidence of age rather than modern repainting. This is particularly important with surviving examples of this type, as restored pieces can lose much of the surface character and historical integrity that serious collectors value. The reverse preserves the full embossed construction of the figure and architectural setting, clearly revealing the nineteenth-century manufacturing technique.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese portraits were not ordinary political souvenirs. They were preserved as household devotional images, placing them within the living religious cult of the Jebtsundamba before the VIII Bogd became Mongolia’s monarch. Surviving metal and paper examples are recorded only individually in institutions including the Bogd Khan Palace Museum, and the Choijin Lama Temple Museum, as well as in scattered private and antiquities collections; the documented study specifically notes the exceptional difficulty of finding the different surviving forms together. The combination of 1893 St. Petersburg production, the smallest 6 × 8 cm metal variation, original devotional purpose, direct connection to the future Bogd Khan, and completely unrestored period surface makes this a highly important survivor of late nineteenth-century Mongolian Buddhist and imperial history.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Qing Dynasty","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52946753913144,"sku":null,"price":680.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0799\/1256\/7096\/files\/IMG_2604.jpg?v=1789229312","url":"https:\/\/khanmilitaria.com\/products\/1893-mongolian-viii-bogd-gegen-bogd-khan-devotional-portrait-metal-plaque-st-petersburg-6-8-cm-variation-rare-unrestored-original-issue","provider":"KhanMilitaria","version":"1.0","type":"link"}