Page 75 - Bonhams FINE CHINESE ART London November 2 2021

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A THANGKA OF GUHYASAMAJA AND CONSORT A THANGKA OF GUHYASAMAJA AND CONSORT
19th century East Tibet, 18th century
Distemper on cloth, glazed and framed. Hanging scroll, distemper on cloth, with silk brocade and silver mount.
The painting 87.5cm (34 1/2in) long x 68cm (26 3/4in) wide. 95.5cm (37 1/2in) high x 64.3cm (25 2/8in) wide.

£2,500 - 3,500 £4,000 - 6,000
CNY22,000 - 31,000 CNY36,000 - 53,000

十九世紀 密集金剛唐卡 十八世紀 密集金剛唐卡

Guhyasamaja is in blue seated in the vajra position with his consort The ‘red deity’ seated at the centre on a lotus throne, embracing
on his lap, surrounded by various deities. The blue deity has three Sparshavajra and backed by a halo and aureole, both figures holding
faces and six hands, and a peaceful but slightly fierce expression. At different attributes, surrounded by eight further manifestations of
the top centre is a Gelug teacher identifiable by his yellow hat. It is the same deities, all set on a verdant landscape and cloud-filled
possible that it is Tsongkapa. See a related thangka of Guhyasamaja, skies. Guhyasamaja is one of the earliest and most important
19th century, in the Rubin Museum of Art (acc.no.P2001.3.3), yidams (transformative deities) in Tantric Buddhism, dating to 8th/9th
published on Himalayan Art Resources (item no.1017). century India, and referred to in Tibet as the ‘King of tantras’. A
yidam represents a series of tantric insights and practices that can
provide a skilled practitioner with an accelerated means to achieving
Buddhahood. Portrayed here by ‘Father’ and ‘Mother’ deities in
penetrative congress, Guhyasamaja represents a complete and perfect
union of male and female divine phenomena. Compare with a similar
thangka of Guhyasamaja, 18th century, in the Southern Alleghenies
Museum of Art, illustrated on Himalayan Art Resources.org (item
no.90529).
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