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A MANDALA OF AVALOKITESHVARA A THANGKA OF AVALOKITESHVARA
Tibet, late 19th/early 20th century Mongolia, 19th century
Distemper on cloth, with original silk-brocaded mount, framed and Distemper on cloth, with cloth mount, framed and glazed.
glazed. 61 x 40 cm (24 x 15 3/4 in); cloth mount: 68 x 47.5 cm (26 3/4 x 18 3/4 in)
72 x 44 cm (28 3/8 x 17 3/8 in);
With silk mount: 114 x 66 cm (44 7/8 x 26 in). 蒙古十九世紀 千手觀世音菩薩像
西藏十九世紀末/二十世紀初 觀世音菩薩壇城圖 Referenced 參考: Himalayan Art Resources item no.2193
Referenced 參考: Himalayan Art Resources item no.2214 Provenance 來源: The Jongen-Schleiper Collection of Fine Thangkas
Provenance 來源: The Jongen-Schleiper Collection of Fine Thangkas Published and Illustrated: A.Neven, Etudes D’Art Lamaique et de
L’Himalaya, Brussels, 1978, pp.80-81, no.54
The bodhisattva in his ekadashamukha manifestation surrounded by
the Four Directional Buddhas within a double square, encapsulated 出版及著錄： A.Neven著，《Etudes D’Art Lamaique et de
in a mandala within the inner courtyard of the celestial palace defined L’Himalaya》，布魯塞爾，1978年，頁80-81，編號54
by four walls and T-shaped gateways each capped by dharma
wheels and canopies, all enclosed by the ring of pristine awareness The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara is depicted with eleven faces and a
surrounded by Amithabha Buddha, lineage hierarchs and Hayagriva. thousand arms, extending his helping hand to all beings and each with
an eye to see their sufferings in innumerable worlds. Ten of his faces
A similarly configured mandala, depicting a standing Avalokiteshvara indicate his attainment of the ten Bodhisattva stages, with the eleventh,
surrounded by the Four Directional Buddhas, 19th century, is in the the face of Amitayus, indicating his being the incarnation of the universal
Yonghegong Palace Monastery collection, illustrated on Himalayan Art compassion of all Buddhas. The ten faces may also represent the
Resources, item no.211; another similar mandala, 19th century, is in looking-after of beings in the ten directions, the eleventh representing
the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, ref.no.F1997.19.6, illustrated on the all-encompassing Buddha wisdom. See M.M.Rhie and R.Thurman,
Himalayan Art Resources, item no.596. Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, New York, 1991,
p.327. The deity stands on a moon-disc and lotus issuing from a pond
amidst the lavishly decorated pavilions and gardens of his Pure Land of
Potala. The ruyi-like lobed clouds, peony-like lotuses and flowering fruit-
laden trees, are all derived from Chinese stylistic conventions. Below
the central figure are four smaller forms of Avalokiteshvara, known as
Padmapani. Floating on clouds above are Shakyamuni and Amitayus.
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