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A BLACKGROUND THANGKA OF VAJRABHAIRAVA TIBET, 18TH CENTURY image 1
A BLACKGROUND THANGKA OF VAJRABHAIRAVA TIBET, 18TH CENTURY image 2
A Private European Collection of Tibetan Thangkas
Lot 3029

A BLACKGROUND THANGKA OF VAJRABHAIRAVA
TIBET, 18TH CENTURY

19 March 2018, 15:00 EDT
New York

US$100,000 - US$150,000

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A BLACKGROUND THANGKA OF VAJRABHAIRAVA

TIBET, 18TH CENTURY
Distemper on cloth; recto with gold Tibetan inscriptions identifying each figure.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.2455
40 1/8 x 26 in. (102 x 66.2 cm)

Footnotes

西藏 十八世紀 大威德金剛唐卡

This 18th-century thangka is a superb commission of the Gelug school rendered in fine gold lines and dedicated to its principal meditational deity, Vajrabhairava. The nine-headed deity, with his primary face of a buffalo, is the wrathful form of Bodhisattva Manjushri. Embracing his consort Vajravetali, he tramples on a multitude of gods and animals in front of a flaming aureole. His formidable appearance is further intensified by a ferocious expression and flaming hair, radiating with power from the center of the composition.

Rendered with meticulous attention, the artist's masterful use of the brush is evident in every inch of the painting – from the controlled strokes delineating the deity's interwoven locks, to the spontaneous lines creating the vivid forms of the animals in the background. The ingenious coloring of selected subjects adds depth by placing different figure groups onto separate planes: Vajrabhairava in the foreground; teachers and auxiliary deities immediately behind; animals and landscape scenes recessed into the background.

Immediately above and to the right and left of Vajrabhairava are the meditational deities Akshobhyavajra and Chakrasamvara, each embracing their consort. Vajradhara Buddha centers the cloudy sky, flanked by four Gelug masters – Jamphel Gyatso, Tsongkhapa, Lobzang Yeshe, and Gendun Gyatso. The rest of the composition is energized by ten wrathful protector deities surrounding the central figure – counterclockwise from the top left, Shadbhuja Mahakala, White Shadbhuja, Chaturmukha Mahakala, Shri Devi Magzorma, Ochen Barma, and five attendants, Vaishravana, Begtse Chen, Yama Dharmaraja, Chaturbhuja Mahakala, and Panjarnata Mahakala.

The present painting compares favorably to another 18th-century blackground Vajrabhairava thangka also commissioned by the Gelug school (HAR item no.61457).

Exhibited
Masterworks: Jewels of the Collection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 10 February 2016–16 January 2017.

Provenance
Lithang Trading Company, Hong Kong, 15 December 1992
Private European Collection

Additional information

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