Page 16 - Fine Asian Art, Bonhams San Francisco June 27, 2017
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8014 Stylistically, the peony-like ‘lotus’ flowers and the intricate use of
gold throughout sumptuous silks, architecture, wish-fulfilling trees,
A THANGKA OF AMITABHA and aureoles are indicative of thangka painting in China centered
Qing dynasty, 18th century around Beijing during the Qing dynasty. Compare with closely related
Distemper on cloth; Amitabha at the center surrounded by a celestial examples sold at Bonhams, New York, 13 March 2017, lot 3045; 14
paradise of garden temples and scrolling clouds, peopled by September 2015, lot 62; 17 March 2014, lot 28; and San Francisco,
Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, protector deities and gurus. 10 December 2015, lot 8009; 19 December 2016, lot 8240.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.100624
31in (78.7cm) height of image exclusive of mount
US$10,000 - 15,000 Published
Pia and Louis Van der Wee, A Tale of Thangkas: Living with a
Depicting Amitabha in the Pure Land of Sukhavati Heaven (Ch: Collection, Antwerp, 1995, pp.73-74, fig.31.
Jing tu), the painting displays an intriguing synthesis between the
Vajrayana Buddhism of the Manchu court and the Mahayana of the Exhibited
Han populace it ruled. De Taal van de Thangka, Ethnographic Museum, Antwerp, 1995.
At the painting’s apex, the founder of Tibet’s Gelug school, Je Provenance
Tsongkhapa, is flanked by a subsequent Dalai Lama and the Third The Van Der Wee Collection, Belgium, acquired in Paris, October
Changkya Hutuktu, Rolpai Dorje (1717-86), the imperial preceptor at 1973
the Qianlong court, with his distinctive portrait and hat with upturned
lappets.
14 | BONHAMS
