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A THANGKA OF VAJRAPANI
PROBABLY XUMIFUSHOU TEMPLE, CHENGDE, QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-95)
Distemper and gold on cloth.
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 11807
Image: 57 x 32 in. (144.8 x 81.3 cm)

$100,000 - 150,000

清 乾隆（1736-95）或出自承德須彌福壽之廟 金剛手菩薩唐卡

Located within a verdant landscape replete with lush forests, flowing rivers, and
mountains of blue and green hues is Vajrapani, the protector of the Buddha’s
teachings, who balances a vajra from a white lotus by his shoulder. Painted in a
light shade of celadon, Vajrapani is cushioned by a resplendent, hexagonal throne
painted largely in gradated washes of pink, orange, and red finely detailed in gold
to emulate embroidered silks and furniture lacquered with cinnabar. Floating above
in the clouds are Amitayus and several attendant bodhisattvas, whereas along the
lower registers is a trio of auspicious items comprising a flaming jewel, a conch,
and a pair of musical cymbals, all emerging from the branching flowers of a pale
pink lotus.

Executed with refinement and sensitivity, this painting belongs to a larger series
that was made for the Xumi Fushou Temple in Chengde. Located north of Beijing,
Chengde served as the mountainous hunting lodge for the early Manchu rulers
of the Qing dynasty. The Xumi Fushou Temple was completed in 1780 on behalf
of the Qianlong emperor (1736-95), who ordered that the architectural layout
of the temple match that of Tashi Lhunpo, the monastic seat of the Panchen
Lamas in Shigatse, Central Tibet. In preparation for his seventieth birthday,
Qianlong invited to Chengde the Third Panchen Lama, Lobzang Palden Yeshe
(1738-80), in affirmation of the emperor’s political and spiritual influence over his
Buddhist subjects, especially those from the Mongol khanates, that would be in
attendance. Several other hanging paintings from this grouping are known, and
all share with one another matching color schemes, landscapes, and a figural
modeling characterised by thinly painted outlines and soft features. These include
a bodhisattva in blue (HAR 11806); a Samantabhadra in red (HAR 30828); an
Avalokiteshvara in white (HAR 69117); two paintings of white bodhisattvas in
museum collections (HAR 69453 & 87026); and a number of paintings depicting
Buddhas (HAR 11415, 24449, 24509 & 69449). Also see a painting from this
set of Ushnishavijaya, sold in Christie’s, New York, 22 March 2023, lot 345. For
a full discussion on thangkas from the Xumi Fushou Temple in Chengde, see Fig 1.
Bartholomew, ‘Thangkas of the Qianlong Period’, in Casey & Denwood, Tibetan Probably A Form Of Avalokiteshvara,
Art, 1997, pp. 104-117, nos. 91 & 99. The Bodhisattva Of Compassion
1779-1780, Tibet
Provenance Colors On Cloth With Cloth Mounting
Yamanaka & Company, New York (label verso) 54 × 33 In. (137.2 × 83.8 Cm)
Property of a Midwest Collector Philadelphia Museum Of Art
Sotheby’s, New York, 22 September 2000, lot 27 (1959-156-5)

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