Page 16 - Bonhams May 11th 2017 London Thangka Collection

26 The other complete set is in three compositions depicting the complete
incarnation lineage of the Panchen Lamas (Lot 26; HAR 2180, 2181, 2182).
7 The set ends with an image of the 4th (7th) Panchen Lama, Lobzang Tenpai
Nyima (1782-1853) dating the set to no later than when he died in 1853.
36
Another set with two compositions titled ‘Ngagwang Zangpo’ (Lot 7;
31 HAR 2203, 2204) has a third composition known in a different European
14 | BONHAMS collection. The full set probably had thirteen compositions. This highly
unusual subject has a Tibetan Lama as the central figure with scenes of the
life story of Shakyamuni Buddha in the background running continuously
from one composition to the next. The painting style is identified as Lhatog
(Khampa Gar) from Eastern Tibet and belonging to the Drugpa Kagyu
Tradition of Buddhism.

There are two sets of paintings depicting the Twenty-one Taras of the
Suryagupta Tradition. The first set has two compositions (Lot 36; HAR 2177,
2178) out of the total of seven paintings and the second set has a single
painting (Lot 31; HAR 2207) from a set of three compositions. A single
painting of Ratnagni Buddha (Lot 11; HAR 2198) belongs to a thirty-five
painting set depicting in total all Thirty-five Confession Buddhas.

Although we are looking at a collection of nearly 60 paintings, we are
actually observing a group of paintings that represents in totality, if all of the
sets were complete, a body of paintings numbering upwards of between
two and three hundred compositions.

Inscriptions on paintings are very important and have various meanings and
uses. Probably the most desired reading of an inscription is an artist name,
preferably recognised, and the date of creation along with the donor’s name
and possibly a geographic location. Those types of inscriptions are rare. It is
more common to find just the donor’s name on the reverse of a painting, or
the name of a religious teacher that composed a few auspicious verses of
blessing that are written on the reverse of the composition.

There are no standard or specific locations for the placement of inscriptions
on paintings. Inscriptions can appear on the front, the back, the brocade
mount, and on the top and bottom stick added for weight, and the
controlled rolling for storage. There can also be drawn symbols on the back
of the paintings such as a stupa, calligraphic design, and hand prints.
In this collection of paintings there are approximately twenty-one
compositions that have inscriptions of various types and length.