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Both thangkas employ the same style and
technique of repetition around a central figure.
One painting depicts the goddess White
Tara (Sitatara) as the central figure, painted in
various colours reserved on a gold ground,
the figure repeated 331 times as small line
drawings. These repetitions of the goddess
were particularly popular as a means of
accumulating a large amount of merit.
The other thangka depicts White
Chakrasamvara in union with his consort.
Chakrasamvara is a meditational deity
belonging to the Anuttarayoga classification of
Buddhist Tantra. Practitioners pray to him to
prolong their lifespan.
Compare with a related thangka of a deity
reserved on a gold background, 18th century,
illustrated in The Complete Collection of
Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong,
2006, p.108, no.98; another similar gold-
ground thangka of Sitatara, Central Tibet, 19th
century, is illustrated by D.Klimburg-Salter,
Discovering Tibet: The Tucci Expeditions and
Tibetan Paintings, Milan, 2015, pp.176-177,
no.45.
33 Referenced 參考: Himalayan Art Resources
A PAIR OF RARE GOLD-GROUND item nos.2168 and 2169
THANGKAS OF SITATARA AND
CHAKRASAMVARA Provenance 來源: The Jongen-Schleiper
Tibet, 19th century Collection of Fine Thangkas
Distemper and gold on cloth, with cloth
mounts, framed and glazed. Published and Illustrated: A.Neven, Etudes
74 x 48 cm (29 1/8 x 18 7/8 in); 72 x 48 cm D’Art Lamaique et de L’Himalaya, Brussels,
(28 1/4 x 18 7/8 in); 1978, p.30, no.14 (one of the pair, depicting
With mounts: 121 x 71.5 cm (47 5/8 x 28 Sitatara)
1/8in); 121 x 71 cm (47 5/8 x 28 in). (2).
出版及著錄： A.Neven著，《Etudes D’Art
西藏十九世紀 多羅菩薩及勝樂金剛擁妃像 一對 Lamaique et de L’Himalaya》，布魯塞
爾，1978年，頁30，編號14（其一）
Qing Court Collection, image courtesy of the
Palace Museum, Beijing
