Page 74 - Christies Indian and Himalayan Art Sept 2015

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A PAINTING OF HVASHANG A PAINTING OF TWO ARHATS
TIBET, 17TH/18TH CENTURY TIBET, 15TH CENTURY

The portly patron seated on cushion with his shoes before The two arhats seated on cushions on a verdant ground, each in brightly
him, wearing a multi-colored dhoti, beaded necklace and jovial colored robes, and backed by a red nimbus, the elder sage on the left
expression, surrounded by diminutive worshippers and with the seated aside a fowing river and lush landscape and the fgure on the right
fve tatagathas above seated in front of a fowering shrub and multi-peaked mountain against
Opaque pigments and gold on textile a red cloud, an attendant holding an umbrella standing between the two,
25 x 20Ω in. (63.5 x 52.1 cm.) with monks and a mystic standing in the foreground and two pairs of
seated Buddhas on the upper left and right corners
$2,000-3,000 Opaque pigments and gold on textile
26Ω x 24 in. (67.3 x 61 cm.)
PROVENANCE:
$6,000-8,000
The Shelley and Donald Rubin Collection, acquired in New York,
24 March 2000 PROVENANCE:
Rubin Museum of Art, gifted from the above in 2006
Rubin Museum of Art, acquired in New York, 26 February 2004
PUBLISHED:
PUBLISHED:
Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.org), item no. 959
Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.org), item no. 65321
Hvashang was the Chinese patron to the Sixteen Great Arhats. He is only
depicted in compositions with these fgures and the Buddha, either in a
single painting containing all twenty-three fgures, or in sets of paintings,
from which the present work likely comes. He is often depicted as a
portly fgure, with bald head and a dark complexion. He usually holds
a mala, a garland of prayer beads, and a bowl of offerings, and is
surrounded by numerous small children.

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