Page 112 - Christie's, materpieces of Buddhist Art December 2, 2015 HK

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THREE FINE AND RARE EMBROIDERED
THANGKA OF DEITIES OF THE MEDICINE
BUDDHA MANDALA

CHINA, EARLY MING DYNASTY, EARLY 15TH CENTURY

Each thangka is divided into three registers of decoration framed with a
classic scroll couched in gold thread: the top register contains a sacred
parasol amid clouds; the middle register with a deity seated on a lotus
base under an arch of ruyi clouds supported by vases; all above the lower
register with lotus scrolls, the five flower heads each supporting a lantsa
character. The three deities represented are Virupaksha, Guardian King
of the West, red of skin and dressed in armor; Yama, of the Southern
Direction, blue-skinned, holding a stick, and seated on a buffalo; and
Yaksha, of the Northern Direction, yellow of skin, holding a vajra scepter
and mongoose, and seated on the back of a horse. The details of the three
textiles are all picked out in silk threads in tones of blue and green, coral,
pink, white, mustard yellow, tan, and white.

The largest 15æ x 7 in. (40 x 17.8 cm.) (3)

PROVENANCE
An American Private Collection, New York, acquired from Christie’s
New York, 30 March 2005, lots 196-198

EXHIBITED
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Heavens’ Embroidered Cloths, One Thousand
Years of Chinese Textiles, 1995, nos. 22a, 22c and 22g.
New York, Japan Society, Crosscurrents: Masterpieces of East Asian Art from
New York Private Collections, 22 March-11 July 1999, no. 12 (part)

LITERATURE
Galloway and Simcox, The Art of Textiles, London, Spink & Son, Ltd.,
1989, p. 25, no. 21 (part)
V. Reynolds, “The Silk Road: From China to Tibet – and Back,”
Orientations, May 1995, figs. 4, 5, and 8

明 十五世紀早期 織繡藥師佛曼陀羅護法唐卡三件

每幅唐卡皆以藍、綠、紅、白、黃及褐色色絲繡成，分為三層紋飾，其
外圍環繞盤金卷草紋。上層飾寶傘流雲紋；中間繡護法神坐於蓮花座上，
兩旁寶瓶生出五彩祥雲，籠罩其上；下層有六朵纏枝蓮，其中五朵上各
盛一個盤金梵文字。三位護法分別是紅色的西方廣目天王；藍色皮膚，持
杖騎牛，屬於南方的閻魔；及黃色皮膚，騎馬，持金剛杵及鼠，屬於北方
的夜叉。

來源
美國私人珍藏，購自紐約佳士得，2005年3月30日，拍品196至198號

展覽
香港藝術館，《Heavens’Embroidered Cloths, One Thousand Years of
Chinese Textiles》，1995年，圖錄圖版22a，22c 與22g
紐約日本協會，《Crosscurrents: Masterpieces of East Asian Art from
New York Private Collections》，1999年3月22日-7月11日，圖錄圖版12
號（部份）

著錄
Galloway and Simcox，《The Art of Textiles》，倫敦，Spink & Son, Ltd.，
1989年，25頁，21號（其中之一）
V. Reynolds，「The Silk Road: From China to Tibet – and Back」，
《Orientations》，1995年5月，圖4、5、8號

110 Masterpieces of Buddhist Art 大俱足 — 經典亞洲佛教藝術