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A THANGKA OF NORCHEN KUNGA ZANGPO AND HIS SUCCESSORS
TIBET, NGOR MONASTERY, 16TH CENTURY
Distemper and gold on cloth; recto with inscriptions in gold within the base of each
of the four thrones identifying the primary figures along with further inscriptions
identifying subsidiary figures.
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 1857
Image: 28 1/4 x 26 3/8 in. (71.8 x 67 cm)

$60,000 - 80,000

西藏 俄爾寺 十六世紀 俄爾欽貢噶桑波傳承唐卡

This large scale thangka depicts four Sakya hierarchs seated on thrones decorated
with lions and columns comprised of ritual vases, foliage, and ornate mirrors. The
format of the painting which places four lineage teachers in a single composition
is referred to as Margapala and associated predominantly with the Sakya tradition.
It is more specifically linked to Ngor monastery, which was founded in 1429 and
flourished under the leadership of its founder, Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo (1382-1456),
who is depicted in the top left of the painting. Each of these great masters wears
patchwork gold and red silk robes, decorated with lhantsa characters or foliate
panels. They all hold their hands in the dharmachakrapavartina mudra, as initiates
of the Lamdre tradition (‘Path and Result’). The background carries orbs of debating
monks, Hevajra, the Buddha, and an array of offerings and auspicious symbols.

The vivid color palette of saturated blues, greens, gold, and orange along with the
ornate scrollwork of the throne back indicates Newar artistry. Artistic production in
paintings under the direction of Nepalese artists excelled at Ngor monastery, with
several lineage sets from the 16th century employing an identical saturated color
scheme. This painting itself belongs to a larger series of which four other have been
recorded. One is in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M81.26; Pal, Art of Tibet,
1983, pp. 150-1, no. P15); another formerly in the Alice and Nasli Heeramaneck
Collection (PalThe Arts of India and Nepal, 1969, pp. 133-4, no. 8); a third in
the Barbara and Walter Frey Collection (HAR 69103); and a fourth in a private
collection (HAR 204016).

Published
Detlef Lauf et. al., Tibetische Kunst, Bern, 1969, p. 87, no. 71, pl. A.
Hugo Kreijger, Tibetan Painting: The Jucker Collection, Boston, 2001, p. 80, no. 25.

Exhibited
Tibetische Kunst, Zurich, 8-30 March and 17 April – 11 May, 1969

Provenance
Dr. Ernst ‘Mischa’ and Angela Jucker Collection
Sotheby’s, New York, 28 March 2006, lot 63

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