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A large thangka of Ushnishavijaya A thangka of Ushnishavijaya,
Mongolia, 18th century Eastern Tibet, Palpung, 18th century
Distemper on cloth; with three wrathful faces and eight arms, she sits in Seated on a lotus blossom rising up from the muddy waters,
lavish silks holding the prescribed attributes and displaying the gestures holding a visvajra before her chest and a medicine bowl in her lap,
of assurance and generosity, repeated diminutive forms surround her. a tantric form of Amitayus appears above her and three Karma
48 x 31 in. (121.92 x 78.8 cm) Kagyu hierarchs appear below.
$20,000 - 30,000 Image: 17 7/8 x 11 7/8 in. (45.2 x 30 cm); With silks: 36 x 21 3/8 in.
(91.4 x 54.2 cm)
Ushnishavijaya is a long-life deity. Repeating the primary figure $6,000 - 8,000
multiplies the merit and efficacy of the thangka. Here, the green, pink,
and blue aureoles behind each of the diminutive Ushnishavijayas are Her brilliant red and gold light illuminates the restrained, tranquil
ordered into diagonal registers to give the mosaic of mountain peaks. landscape rendered in the Palpung style of Southeastern Tibet.
Cranes, ducks, and auspicious low-horizon ruyi cloud forms populate
For two further examples of repeated-figure Ushnishavijaya thangkas the scenery, drawing on Chinese painting traditions. The figure at the
see www.himalayanart.org/image.cfm/89815.html and www. bottom center is likely either the 10th Shamarpa (1742–1793) or the
himalayanart.org/image.cfm/51609.html 8th Tai Situpa (1700-1774), who founded Palpung monastery.
Referenced For related examples of the style and period, see http://www.
HAR - himalayanart.org/image.cfm/41203.html himalayanart.org/image.cfm/90401.html and http://www.
himalayanart.org/image.cfm/127.html.
Referenced
HAR - himalayanart.org/image.cfm/41202.html
Provenance
Acquired in India, circa 1959.
Thence by descent, Private Collection, AZ
68 | BONHAMS
