Dora Tan
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Lot 1035
A SILK APPLIQUÉ OF TILOPA TIBET, CIRCA 18TH CENTURY
30 November 2022, 18:00 HKT
Hong Kong, Six Pacific PlaceHK$500,000 - HK$650,000
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Joan Yip
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Jing Wen
Cataloguer
A SILK APPLIQUÉ OF TILOPA
TIBET, CIRCA 18TH CENTURY
Silk appliqué with silk embroidery and ink, mounted onto a later navy-blue textile backing.
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 90918
Image: 132 x 101.2 cm (52 x 39 7/8 in.) irregular;
With later cloth backing: 149.7 x 99.1 cm (59 x 47 in.)
Silk appliqué with silk embroidery and ink, mounted onto a later navy-blue textile backing.
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 90918
Image: 132 x 101.2 cm (52 x 39 7/8 in.) irregular;
With later cloth backing: 149.7 x 99.1 cm (59 x 47 in.)
Footnotes
西藏 約十八世紀 堆繡帝洛巴像
Having founded the Six Dharma teachings from which all Kagyu lineages base their traditions from, Mahasiddha Tilopa (928-1009) is portrayed in the act of performing a yoga pose, noted by his folded right leg and the yoga band bracing his lower back. Here, the Indian adept touches the forefinger and thumb of his right hand to form the gesture of teaching, while his left hand holds a skullcup (kapala), which is one of his common attributes.
According to Weldon and Casey, "This [appliqué] was once just a small component of a monumental thangka. Tibetan monasteries stored vast scrolled images that were unfurled down steep mountainsides or tall buildings for public viewing on ceremonial occasions. [See Zwalf, Art of Tibet, 1981, p. 68.] Tibetans are expert needle-workers but do not themselves produce silk fabric. The silks used in this appliqué and embroidered picture are Chinese; Tibetan monasteries often had stocks of fine and antique Chinese silks to use as required."
This remarkable textile utilizes a combination of embroidery and appliqué techniques. Piping is used to outline the form, and fine embroidery delineates the ornaments, and details of the face. Together, these technical features accentuate his intense gaze and the immediacy of his upright posture. Compare with another appliqué figure of a mahasiddha, possibly from the same initial set, which is now in the Newark Museum of Art (Reynolds, From the Sacred Realm, 1998, p. 18). Another group of related appliqués dedicated to forms of Padmasambhava is in the Rubin Museum of Art, New York (HAR set no. 1229), to which this handsome depiction of Tilopa compares favorably.
Published:
David Weldon and Jane Casey, Faces Of Tibet: The Wesley and Carolyn Halpert Collection, Carlton Rochell, New York, 2003, no. 29.
Rob Linrothe, Holy Madness, Portraits of Tantric Siddhas, New York, 2006, pp. 344-5, cat. no. 72.
Exhibited:
Holy Madness, Portraits of Tantric Siddhas, The Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 11 February – 3 September 2006.
Provenance:
The Caroline and Wesley Halpert Collection
Carlton Rochell Ltd., New York, 2003
The Rapoport Collection, New York