Page 52 - Bonhams Image of Devotion Hong Kong December 2, 2021

1019
A THANGKA OF BEGTSE CHEN
QING, YONGHEGONG STYLE, 18TH/19TH CENTUR
Distemper on cloth.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.4519
48.7 x 33 cm (19 1/8 x 13 in.)

HKD150,000 - 200,000
清 雍和宮風格 十八/十九世紀 大紅司命主唐卡

Begtse Chen is one of the main protectors of the Sakya school of Tibetan
Buddhism, popularized by its founder Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158).
He was later incorporated into the Gelug school as a dharma protector, and
associated with the Hayagriva cycle of tantric meditation practices. Wearing
elaborate protective armor and thick boots, Begtse Chen brandishes a sword in
his right hand while holding the heart of an enemy in his left. At the bottom-left of
the composition, his son, the Lord of Life, holds a lasso and a spear atop a wolf.
In the opposite corner, his red-faced and blue-bodied consort, the Goddess of
Life, holds a sword in her right hand and a purbha in her left, while riding a bear
with a miniature corpse clutched between its teeth.

The prominent scale of the central deity and close attention to detail are
characteristics of paintings produced at Beijing’s Yonghegong temple. See a
closely related thangka of the same deity preserved at Yonghegong, published
in Qi, Beautiful Thangka Paintings in Yonghegong, 2001, p.88. The treatment of
Begtse Chen’s beard, hair, and crown are very similar, as are the flat-bottomed
clouds and gold-outlined flames.

Provenance
Private Asian Collection

50 | BONHAMS