HIMALAYAS | TIBET | PAINTING
Chakrasamvara and Consort
Tibet
17th century
Chakrasamvara and Consort
Tibet, 17th century
Ground mineral pigments with gold on cloth
34 x 25 in. (86 x 64 cm.)
Provenance:
The Uzes Collection, France, acquired in the 1950s.
Chakrasamvara, which translates as wheel of bliss, is one of the most popular yidam, or meditational deity, in Tantric Buddhism after the 11th century. As the principal deities of the Anuttarayoga Tantra of the Vajrayana Buddhist Tradition, Chakrasamvara can appear in several dozen different forms, from simple to complex, peaceful to wrathful. Here Chakrasamvara and his consort Vajravarahi are both with a wrathful appearance, standing on Red Kalaratri and Black Bhairava, symbolizing the triumph over ego and ignorance. Chakrasamvara, who is blue in color, has four heads and 12 hands, in which he holds an elephant skin behind his back, a staff, a skullcup, a golden lasso, Brahma’s four heads, a trident, a flaying knife, an axe, a drum, a vajra and a bell at center. Both Chakrasamvara and his consort Vajravarahi wear a skull crown, a garland of freshly severed heads, and are surrounded by the blazing flames of pristine awareness. A register of deities are at the top of the image. From left to right are identified as Vajrayogini, Vajrasattava, Ghantapa, Tipola, Vajradhara, Naropa, Dombi Heruka, Akshobhya, and Hayagriva. An attendent figure is positioned on the left of Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi. He is mostly likely to be Kankalipa, one of the 84 mahasiddhas who meditated many years upon his deceased wife as a Dakini, the emptiness, and attained the state of mahamudra-siddhi.
Abhayakaragupta
Tibeto-Chinese
18th century
Abhayakaragupta
Tibeto-Chinese, 18th century
Mineral pigment on cloth
39 1⁄2 x 23 1⁄2 in. (100.3 x 59.7 cm.)
Provenance:
Private New York collection, acquired in the 1960s, by repute.
Thence by descent.
The subject of this painting, Abhayakaragupta, can be described as a Panchen Lama pre-incarnation. The Vajrayana Buddhist teacher who lived in the eleventh century was a prolific scholar who served as the abbot of the great monastic college and monastery Vikramashila at its height, authored the earliest known system of biographies of the Eighty-four Mahasiddhas, and much more.
The Panchen Lamas are a political and religious incarnation lineage identified by the Fifth Dalai Lama, beginning with his closest tutor Lobsang Chokyi Gyaltsen (1570–1662). The Panchen Lamas recognized in their lifetimes acted as the abbots of Tashilhunpo Monastery of Shigatse in Tsang Province (Central Tibet). The later-devised Tashilhunpo lineage of incarnations (distinct from that of the central Gelukpa administration of Tibet known as the ‘Ganden Phodrang’) begins with figures who were posthumously recognized and refers to Kedrub Geleg Pal Zangpo (1385-1438) as the first Panchen Lama.
The present painting is the fourth of thirteen compositions depicting the Tashilhunpo lineage of Panchen Lama incarnations, designed at Narthang Monastery in Tsang Province and widely disseminated in the form of woodcuts by the mid-eighteenth century. Abhayakaragupta is depicted among Vajrayogini at top left, the siddha Ratnasambhava at top right, and Mahakala Panjaranatha at bottom right.
While the present painting almost certainly began with the block print itself, the great detail seen in the finished product is attributable to the anonymous eighteenth-century Chinese painter. The origin of this artwork is thus distinguished by his hand, as well as the mounting style and what appears to be an original textile, decorated with the traditional fu or winged bats which denote good fortune.
Vajrapani, Hayagriva, Garuda Combined
Tibet
18th century
Vajrapani, Hayagriva, Garuda Combined
Tibet, 18th century
Ground mineral pigments with gold on cloth
Image: 29 1/4 x 20 in. (75 x 51 cm.)
Provenance:
From a Private Italian Collection.
This fine thangka depicts Guhyapati Vajrapani, in his rare form of showing three wrathful deities: Vajrapani, Hayagriva and Garuda combined in one. The three deities are emanation of Buddha’s enlightened mind, speech, and body, respectively. Thus, they together embody the perfect power of all Buddhas, and protect beings from harmful spirits that create disease, disharmony and obstacles. The special practice of the Vajrapani-Hayagriva-Garuda deity has a long history of lineage, passed down from Je Tsongkhapa’s teacher, Lhodrag Drubchen Lekyi Dorje (1326-1401), who had obtained enlightenment through the practice Vajrapani.
The upper register of this painting shows five figures with Amitabha Buddha on the far right, and four teachers on the left, all wearing the typical yellow cap of the Gelugpa lineage.
Dwelling in the middle of a mass fire, the Vajrapani-Hayagriva-Garuda deity has a body blue-black in color, with one face and two hands. The right hand holds a vajra and the left raised to the heart in a wrathful gesture. His hair twisting upwards amongst which a horse head, neighing sharply three times over-powering the Three Realms. The neighing of the horse on the right over-powers the male lineages, one the left over-powers the female lineages, and the one in the middle bestows attainments on the practitioner. Below the horse is the King of Birds, Garuda, with a body white in color, beating the sword-wings, adorned within a jewel crown. His hair is adorned with a white spotted snake representing the Kings race. He wears a lower garment of tiger skin, adorned with all the jewel ornaments.
Vajrapani-Hayagriva-Garuda deity is particularly practiced in the Kriya Tantra classification, and grants protection from nagas. Executed strictly according to monastery scripture, he is accompanied by Buddha Nagaraja seating on the right, and Simhanada Avalokiteshvara seating on the left, who belongs to the Kriya classification, and is to remove sickness and disease especially illness caused by nagas.
Few other identified examples are held at The Fine Arts Zanabazar Museum, Tashi Lhunpo Compilation, Beijing, and Rainy Jin & Johnny Bai collection (See Himalayan Art Resource, Buddhist Deity: Vajrapani, Three Combined Wrathful Ones).
A Fine Thangka of Shakyamuni
Tibet
18th century
A fine thangka of Shakyamuni
Tibet, 18th century
Ground mineral pigments with gold on cloth
Framed: 31 1/2 x 21 1/2 in. (80 x 55 cm.)
Image: 24 x 15 in. (61 x 38 cm.)
Provenance:
Collection of late John Walden (1925-2013).
Seated in dhyanasana on a lotus base, his hands in bhumisparsamudra, in the left an alms bowl, dressed in multicolored patchwork robes, the face with serene expression backed by a nimbus and aureole, all surmounting Shadakshari and Vajrasattva below. “Born in the Shakya race through skillful means and compassion; destroying the army of Mara who was unable to be destroyed by others; with a body radiant like a mountain of gold. Homage to you, King of Shakya.” (Sakya liturgical verse)(HAR). “Shakyamuni Buddha is the founder of the Buddhist religion. He lived and taught in India in the sixth century B.C.E., a time of burgeoning religious and philosophical thought from Greece to China. Born as the crown prince of the great Shakya Kingdom, the young Siddhartha Gautama was groomed to be a king in accordance with the wishes of his royal father. However, when he was about 29 years old, he learned of the deep suffering experienced in life by people. He left his palace life, gave up his fine garments and jewelry in order to find the causes of this suffering and the means to overcome it. After about six years of study, self-deprivation, and deep meditation he finally realized his goal. He had become an enlightened one (a Buddha). After this, he is said to have walked to a deer park in Sarnath (Benares) on the outskirts of Varanasi in India. Here he gave his first sermon, an event which is called the turning of the wheel of Buddhist law (Dharmacakra). The wheel as a metaphor for Buddha’s teaching will become a prevalent symbol in Buddhist art.” – Khan Academy
Buddha Shakyamuni and the Thirty-five Buddhas of Confession
Western Tibet, Ngari Prefecture, Guge Kingdom
15th century
Buddha Shakyamuni and the Thirty-five Buddhas of Confession
Western Tibet, Ngari Prefecture, Guge Kingdom, 15th century
Mineral pigments on cloth
45 x 35 in. (114.3 x 88.9 cm.)
Provenance:
Private collection, Germany.
Published:
Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org), item no. 7761.
The historical buddha Shakyamuni presides over this large assembly of buddhas, tantric deities and lamas. Shakyamuni is depicted holding a begging bowl and with his proper right hand in the earth-touching gesture, in recognition of his defeat of Mara and his achievement of enlightenment. His closest disciples, Maudgalayayana and Shariputra, flank him. Four buddhas performing the teaching gesture appear in red nimbuses within the negative space between Shakyamuni and the torana, or gateway-like throne back, around which the remainder of the retinue is depicted. Guhyasamaja Akshobhyavajra and Vajrabhairava, each with consort, are depicted atop floating lotuses between the buddhas on either side of Shakyamuni’s head. Within the foliate-filled mandorla that surrounds the buddha’s body are two teachers in pandit hats. The blue-shirted figure is Atisha (982- 1054), progenitor of the early Kadampa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and the other may be Suvarnadvipa.
The remainder of the floating figures in the top half of the composition are the Thirty-Five Buddhas of Confession, which are described in The Sutra of Three Heaps within the twenty-fourth chapter of The Jewel Mound Sutra titled ‘The Definitive Vinaya.’ According to the sutra, the mere names of these buddhas have the power to purify defilements, particularly failures to adhere to the bodhisattva vow. The sutra describes the proper process of confession and prostration. Here, the confessional buddhas take on the appearances described in Nagarjuna’s commentary, The Bodhisattva’s Confession of Ethical Downfalls (note that there is more than one Nagarjuna in Buddhist histories and they are sometimes conflated). An idealized donor scene with Jambhala at the right represents those who would be carrying out this practice. Above the donors sit five Gelukpa lamas. To the donors’ left appear Virudhaka, Dhritarashtra, and three peaceful tantric deities; to their right appear Vaishravana, Virupaksha, Shadbhuja Mahakala and Yama Dharmaraja. The sixteen arhats with attendant Dharmatala appear below the buddhas in the right and left margins of the composition; the uppermost arhats sit just below and beside the feet of either makara within the torana.
Iconographic details point to the fifteenth-century origin of this painting, just as its stylistic details do. The way each buddha is depicted with a round halo intersecting a mandorla just above the figure’s shoulders is typical of this period. Many other stylistic features of buddhas painted in this time and place are reflected in the central image of Shakyamuni: his very-spherical ushnisha, pronounced widows peak, faint urna, thin arched brows, wide eyes, narrow mouth, pendulous earlobes, and three distinct neck folds. The well-known fifteenth-century Shakyamuni in the Bhadrakalpa Guiseppe Tucci collected on one of his trips to Guge in 1933 or 1935 (see Himalayan Art Resources item no. 19003) is part of the same milieu, as is a painting of the present subject in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (see Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 31303). Each of these bears a close resemblance to buddhas within the fifteenth-century murals of the White Temple at Tholing Monastery, which were referred to at the time of creation as Kache Luk (“kha che lugs”) or the style of Kashmir. The Tucci painting is, in fact, inscribed with this description beneath the silk frame (see Klimburg-Salter, Discovering Tibet: The Tucci Expeditions and Tibetan Paintings, Milan, 2015, Cat no. 2, pp. 88-92). The stylistic descriptor refers to the influence of Kashmiri artists working in the region since the late tenth century, when the kingdom of Guge-Purang was founded.
The present form of Kache Luk certainly represents the Tibetan evolution of a style originally associated with Kashmir, the foundation of which can be seen most vividly in the well-intact murals of Alchi painted in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The famous translator and lama, Rinchen Zangpo (958–1055), is credited with beginning the tradition of commissioning Kashmiri artists for the Western Tibetan monasteries he founded— which included Tholing. Elements of the earlier Kache Luk can therefore be seen in the much-earlier parts of the Tholing complex: the Red Temple and the Golden Temple. The White Temple is devoid of elements that can be more directly associated with the Sassanian Per- sian influence that pervades the murals of Alchi as well as these parts of the Tholing monastic complex.
In the present work, pointed petals on the crowns of Guhyasamaja Akshobhyavajra and the tantric buddhas atop Shakyamuni’s throne may intentionally refer to the earlier Kache-Luk murals and the three-dimensional mandala figures that surround them at Alchi, Tabo, Nako and Poo (the latter three also located along Sultej River at the heart of the western Tibetan kingdom). The billowing sleeves of the kings of the cardinal directions also mirror those earlier styles. Exaggerated proportions, high-contrast shading of physical features, and large billowing ribbons have, however, been exchanged in the present work for a more naturalistic, while flatter, approach. Other stylistic features pointing to the present painting’s fifteenth-century origin include several Indo-Nepalese techniques introduced to Tibet through Newar artists active in the more central regions during the second dissemination of Buddhism in Tibet (tenth- twelfth centuries). The predominantly red palette, patra or scrollwork motif within Shakyamuni’s mandorla, and representation of naga are the most apparent.
A fifteenth-century origin for the present painting is also logical given the small number of Gelukpa lamas depicted herein. Tibetan histories state that in the early fifteenth century the Gelukpa tradition was brought to Western Tibet by lama Ngawang Drakpa (specific life dates unknown) and that the tradition was adopted at Tholing and Tsaparang immediately after. It is this somewhat enigmatic figure who is credited with the construction of the White Temple; he became the abbot of Tholing as well as the surrounding monasteries of Guge. Knowing Ngawang Drakpa came from central Tibet, we can surmise that he sought to introduce contemporary styles from that region too. It follows that the small clouds scattered between buddhas, throughout the upper part of the composition, resemble those within the famous murals at Gyantse (in south-central Tibet, completed within the first quarter of the fifteenth century) to which the greatest Nepalese artists are known to have contributed.
Four-armed Mahakala with Consort
Tibet
18th-19th century
Four-armed Mahakala with Consort
Tibet, 18th-19th century
Ground mineral pigment on cloth
30 x 21 1⁄2 in. (76.3 x 54.4 cm.)
Provenance:
The Mactaggart Collection.
Bonhams Hong Kong, 3 Oct 2017, lot 28.
Private collection, California.
Published:
Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org), item no. 2424.
Teachers, worldly deities, protectors, and wrathful retinue figures coalesce in this cloud and flame-filled composition, replete with gruesome charnel ground scenes and white-clad ngagpa practicing within. A four-armed blue-black protector and his consort trample a supine human corpse with a pained expression at center, demonstrating their power to destroy ego. The central figure holds a blazing sword and bloody heart in his two proper-left hands and a skullcup and trident in his right, identifying him as a form of Mahakala or Gonpo Nagpo Chenpo. His dwarfish and big-bellied body is partially concealed by the backside of his female counterpart, who holds a curved knife and skull cup (unseen). Their sexual embrace is depicted here in an explicit manner, atypical among other traditional depictions of this figure. Below Mahakala and his consort, groups of blood- thirsty animals await the flesh of his fierce retinue’s mortal victims while an assembly of humans and demi- gods observe.
This particular form of Four-Armed Mahakala was transmitted from Ga Lotsawa to the great terton or treasure revealer, Nyangrel Nyima Ozer (1136-1204), who modified the meditation script to better suit Nyingma practice. As such, the human figures at the top of the composition, surrounding Padmasmabhava at center, are Nyima Ozer’s lineage. The retinue figures here are telling of this specific identity. The Nyingma protector Rahula stands out the most with his many heads, his serpentine lower half, the wrathful face that constitutes his belly, and the thousand eyes that cover his otherworldly appearance. Shingkong, the lion-faced, blue bodied protector on the opposite side, is also unusual to see beside Four-Armed Mahakala (see Jeff Watt, himalayanart.org, set 4200).
The present image of the enlightened four-armed protector with his consort and retinue is particularly dynamic—with a packed and complex composition that reflects the forcefully purifying enlightened activity of the deities. This visual support is clearly intended for an advanced practitioner with the wisdom to grasp subversive imagery and the ability to hold the copious aesthetic details in their mind’s eye. Outside its traditional context the painting sustains great visual impact. The anonymous artist should be lauded for the creative and unique approach to this meditative formula.
Arhat Nagasena
Tibet
18th century
Arhat Nagasena
Tibet, 18th century
Distemper on cloth
26 ½ x 18 in. (67.5 x 46 cm.)
Konchog Bang
Tibet
18th century
Konchog Bang
Tibet, 18th century
Distemper on cloth
28 ¼ x 19 in. (72 x 48 cm.)
Arhat Bakula
Tibet
18th century
Arhat Bakula
Tibet, 18th century
Distemper on cloth
Image: 36 x 24 in. (92 x 60 cm.)
Frame: 58 x 34 in. (147.3 x 86.3 cm.)
Vajrapani
China
18th century
Vajrapani
China, 18th century
Distemper on cloth
43 ¼ x 28 ½ in. (109.8 x 72.5 cm.)
Hevajra
Tibet, central region
17th century
Hevajra
Tibet, central region, 17th century
Distemper on cloth
38 ¾ x 28 ¾ in. (98.6 x 72.8 cm.)
King Ralpachen
Tibet
late 17th century
King Ralpachen
Tibet, late 17th century
Distemper on cloth
20 x 12 in. (52 x 31 cm.)
Arhat Nagasena
Tibet
18th century
Arhat Nagasena
Tibet, 18th century
Distemper on cloth with silk mounts
35 ¾ x 23 ½ in. (91 x 60 cm.)
Kanakavatsa
Tibet
18th century
Kanakavatsa
Tibet, 18th century
Ground mineral pigments on cloth
36 ¼ x 24 in. (92 x 61 cm.)
Provenance:
Koller Zurich, June 1978, lot 46.
Published:
Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org), item no. 36292.
The Sixteen Arhats emerge out of an early Sanskrit Buddhist text called the Nandamitra describing enlightened human disciples of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni who vow to remain on earth until the future buddha, Maitreya, arrives. The present aesthetic form, however, is the result of earlier Chinese models of these figures referred to as ‘luohan’ (the Chinese equivalent of the Sanskrit term ‘arhat’). Tibetans generally refer to these figures as neten (Tib. Wylie: gnas brten), which equates to the Sanskrit term for elder (‘sthavira’), while arhatship is a level of buddhist attainment for which Tibetans use the word ‘drachompa’ (Tib. Wylie:. dgra bcom pa). Despite the ambiguity of the status Tibetan Buddhists give to these figures, the present and fifteen other historical figures called neten are significant figures in Tibetan Buddhist art as they are important sources of original buddhist teachings.
Here, Kanakavatsa is depicted wide-eyed, holding a jeweled lasso given to him by the protectors of the Tantras known as nagas. He is barefoot, seated atop a meditation cushion, and attended by a small male figure holding a vase. Two large jewels are suspended in the water at the foreground. The present painting belongs to a painting set depicting either sixteen or eighteen figures which includes Arhat Nagasena and Arhat Bakula from this catalogue as well as three others in private collections (see Himalayan Art Resources items no. 21658, 24114, and 24651). The set is distinguished by the golden bodies of each elder, the elaborate and distinct golden patterns of each vibrant textile, the rainbow of colors among clouds filling the bright blue skies, the pure white moon and orange sun, and the red cartouges with small gold inscriptions of homage.
