Page 42 - 2021 March 16th Indian, Himalayan and Tibetan Art, Bonhams NYC New York

316
A PAIR OF BLACKGROUND THANGKAS OF HAYAGRIVA AND VAJRAKILA
TIBET, 19TH CENTURY
Distemper on cloth.
Himalayan Art Resources item nos.16924 & 16925
Image: 14 1/8 x 11 in. (35.8 x 27.8 cm), the Hevajra;
Image: 13 1/2 x 11 3/8 in. (34.4 x 28.8 cm), the Vajrakila
$12,000 - 16,000
西藏 十九世紀 馬頭明王及普巴金剛黑唐卡

This pair of blackground thankgas depicting the meditational deities (yidams) Hayagriva and
Vajrakila are excellent examples of the 19th century. The artist skillfully achieves complex forms
and spatial relations with a restrained use of line and shading. He renders the many arms,
legs, and faces of each deity with confidence. He paints the hair of each central figure with
fine, parallel lines in gold, and applies the same technique to the flames around them, but with
fainter brushstrokes so as to create the illusion of their receeding into the background.

Compare with other 19th-century blackground thangkas at the Rubin Museum of Art, New
York, of Vajrakila (P1996.20.25; HAR379), Maning Mahakala (P1995.25.3, HAR208), and
Panjarnata Mahakala (F1997.3.5, HAR70).

Provenance
Ex-New Jersey Collection, c.2008

40 | BONHAMS