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1035
A SILK APPLIQUÉ OF TILOPA
TIBET, CIRCA 18TH CENTURY
Silk appliqué with silk embroidery and ink, mounted onto a later navy-blue
textile backing.
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 90918
Image: 132 x 101.2 cm (52 x 39 7/8 in.) irregular;
With later cloth backing: 149.7 x 99.1 cm (59 x 47 in.)
HKD500,000 - 650,000

西藏 約十八世紀 堆繡帝洛巴像

Having founded the Six Dharma teachings from which all Kagyu lineages base
their traditions from, Mahasiddha Tilopa (928-1009) is portrayed in the act of
performing a yoga pose, noted by his folded right leg and the yoga band bracing
his lower back. Here, the Indian adept touches the forefinger and thumb of his
right hand to form the gesture of teaching, while his left hand holds a skullcup
(kapala), which is one of his common attributes.

According to Weldon and Casey, “This [appliqué] was once just a small
component of a monumental thangka. Tibetan monasteries stored vast scrolled
images that were unfurled down steep mountainsides or tall buildings for public
viewing on ceremonial occasions. [See Zwalf, Art of Tibet, 1981, p. 68.] Tibetans
are expert needle-workers but do not themselves produce silk fabric. The silks
used in this appliqué and embroidered picture are Chinese; Tibetan monasteries
often had stocks of fine and antique Chinese silks to use as required.”

This remarkable textile utilizes a combination of embroidery and appliqué
techniques. Piping is used to outline the form, and fine embroidery delineates the
ornaments, and details of the face. Together, these technical features accentuate
his intense gaze and the immediacy of his upright posture. Compare with another
appliqué figure of a mahasiddha, possibly from the same initial set, which is now
in the Newark Museum of Art (Reynolds, From the Sacred Realm, 1998, p. 18).
Another group of related appliqués dedicated to forms of Padmasambhava is in
the Rubin Museum of Art, New York (HAR set no. 1229), to which this handsome
depiction of Tilopa compares favorably.

Published
David Weldon and Jane Casey, Faces Of Tibet: The Wesley and Carolyn Halpert
Collection, Carlton Rochell, New York, 2003, no. 29.
Rob Linrothe, Holy Madness, Portraits of Tantric Siddhas, New York, 2006, pp.
344-5, cat. no. 72.

Exhibited
Holy Madness, Portraits of Tantric Siddhas, The Rubin Museum of Art, New York,
11 February – 3 September 2006.

Provenance
The Caroline and Wesley Halpert Collection
Carlton Rochell Ltd., New York, 2003
The Rapoport Collection, New York

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