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Lot 39
A thangka of Kalacakra Eastern Tibet, Palpung, mid 18th century
17 March 2014, 13:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$233,000 inc. premium
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A thangka of Kalacakra
Eastern Tibet, Palpung, mid 18th century
Distemper on cloth; on a pale open landscape with a gnarled, leafy tree bearing dark fruit, Kalachakra has four faces and twenty-four multi-colored hands holding a multitude of attributes, the first pair of hands embrace the consort Vishvamata and are crossed at the heart holding a vajra and bell, standing on a blue and green lotus platform and framed by the five-colored lights of pristine awareness fire, at the top left is Sahaja Heruka Kalachakra (3 & 4) and to the right is White Tara (5), at the bottom Shabala Garuda (6) and Green Jambhala (7) flank a kapala filled with nectar.
Image: 37 1/2 x 25 1/2 in. (95.3 x 64.7 cm)
Distemper on cloth; on a pale open landscape with a gnarled, leafy tree bearing dark fruit, Kalachakra has four faces and twenty-four multi-colored hands holding a multitude of attributes, the first pair of hands embrace the consort Vishvamata and are crossed at the heart holding a vajra and bell, standing on a blue and green lotus platform and framed by the five-colored lights of pristine awareness fire, at the top left is Sahaja Heruka Kalachakra (3 & 4) and to the right is White Tara (5), at the bottom Shabala Garuda (6) and Green Jambhala (7) flank a kapala filled with nectar.
Image: 37 1/2 x 25 1/2 in. (95.3 x 64.7 cm)
Footnotes
Kalachakra and the consort Vishvamata are the principal deities originating in the Sanskrit Kalachakra Tantra text. The text and meditational practices belong to the classification of Non-dual Anuttarayoga Tantra practiced to a greater or lesser degree by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The concept of 'time' is used as the special metaphor to symbolize the process of transformation from mundane existence to complete enlightenment. From amongst the numerous lineages to enter Tibet the Rwa and Dro are the most famous.
The composition is from a set of twenty-seven paintings of meditational deities (yi dam) commissioned by Situ Panchen Chokyi Jungne in the mid 1700s. The deity figures are painted in a Khyenri painting style following the original Gongkar Chode Monastery models. The landscape background follows a Chinese model.
The deity figures are sketched and painted in a Khyenri style first seen at Gongkar Chode Monastery in Central Tibet. The colours are very bright and the paint is layered very thick. The halos around the figures form a near perfect circle and the detailing is fine and intricate with the eye being able to look intently at small aspects of the figures and decorations. These are all characteristics of the Khyenri style of painting. The background follows a Chinese style of landscape painting with grassy expanses and distant green hills. The landscape is almost completely independent of the Tantric deities super-imposed onto the composition.
Compare with a Chakrasamvara thangka in the Rubin Museum of Art (see HAR #432 - http://www.himalayanart.org/image.cfm/432.html) and another in the Rezk Collection in Huntington, Mirrors of the Heart and Mind, Loretto, 1998, p. 20, pl. 13. Also see Tangka-Buddhist Painting of Tibet: The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, vol. 59, Hong Kong, 2003, pp.40-2, nos. 34-6.
Published:
HAR #48242 - http://www.himalayanart.org/image.cfm/48242.html