Page 8 - Bonhams Image of Devotion Hong Kong December 2, 2021

1003
A PAINTED WOOD SUTRA COVER
TIBET, CIRCA 13TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.4517
15.6 x 38.3 cm (6 1/8 x 15 1/8 in.)

HKD500,000 - 650,000

西藏 約十三世紀 木質彩繪護經板

Surviving with vibrant colors, the painted inside of this manuscript cover depicts
a pair of arhats revering a green-bodied Vajrasattva and a figure dressed in royal
Tibetan attire who likely represents Maitreya or Vairocana Buddha in a manner
following 11th-century depictions seen at Yemar in Central Tibet (cf. Henss, The
Cultural Monuments of Tibet, Vol.II, 2014, pp.563-4, figs.803-4). Each figure is set
against a solid red nimbus and sits on a bicolored lotus base, while the scene is
framed by a dark blue background punctuated with red flowers.

The painting is in an early Tibetan style that clearly emulates the Pala tradition
of Northeastern India. For example, the oval bolsters, each with two triangular
projections indicating a throne back, are commonly seen in Pala illuminated
manuscripts (e.g., Pal, Tibetan Paintings, 1984, p.46, pl.5). The occasional
shading used for the lotus petals and Vajrasattva’s body, as well as the sinuous
upper eyelid, can also be traced to India.

Compare with a closely related pair of 13th-century Tibetan manuscript covers
sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 24 May 2021, lot 1. Also see a contemporaneous
example depicting Manjuvajra preserved in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
(1998.75; Kossak & Singer, Sacred Visions, 1998, pp.148-9, no.39), as well a
manuscript page with similarly styled illumination sold at Bonhams, New York, 14
March 2016, lot 19.

Provenance
Arnold Lieberman, New York
Private European Collection, acquired from above in the early 1990s

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