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           A RARE THANGKA OF PADMASAMBHAVA                   as ‘Lotus-Born’, refers to his miraculous birth from a lotus on the Lake
           Tibet, 14th/15th century                          Dhanaosha in Uddhiyana, in Northwest India. The king had lost his
           Distemper on cloth, depicting Padmasambhava in the centre flanked   son, so the Buddha Amitabha emitted from his tongue a ray of red
           by Mandarava and Yeshe Tsogyal, the top register with various forms of   light which blossomed into a lotus containing a vajra, which turned into
           Padmasambhava along with lineage teachers and two deities, Sengge   an eight-year-old child. The boy was thus adopted by the king and
           Dradog and Guru Dragpo, to the right and left of the central figure are   after restoring the prosperity of the kingdom, abandoned the mundane
           the Eight Great Bodhisattvas with additional lineage teachers in the   life to attain Buddhahood. The yogic and metaphysical doctrines of
           lower portions, the lower register with further lineage teachers and four   Padmasambhava form the basis of the ‘Nyingma’, or ‘Ancient’ Order,
           female goddesses in peaceful appearance, with later cloth mount.   of Tibetan Buddhism, and he is universally revered by Tibetans as
           The thangka: 64cm (25 2/8in) high x 62.6cm (24 4/8in) wide.  Guru Rinpoche, the ‘Precious Guru’ who converted the entire country
                                                             into a realm of Dharma.

           £15,000 - 20,000                                  Many of the figures depicted on the present work may be identified
           CNY130,000 - 180,000                              as Padmasambhava’s Eight Manifestations, relating to the multiple
                                                             guises the deity assumed whilst on Tantric pilgrimage in the eight great
           西藏 十四/十五世紀 彩繪蓮花生大士唐卡                              charnel grounds, and the learned Indian masters who transmitted the
                                                             Vajrayana teachings to the guru.
           Himalayan Art Resources Item no.30648
                                                             The deity’s henna-coloured palms and soles, a stylistic convention
           Provenance: a European private collection         inherited from Northeast Indian painting traditions, are features
                                                             associated with portraits of hierarchs and deities in early Tibetan
           來源: 歐洲私人收藏                                        paintings, as is the geometrically delineated space depicting each
                                                             figure within a halo.
           Padmasambhava is one of the most highly revered figures in Tibetan
           Buddhism, credited with the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet in the   Compare with a similar thangka of Padmasambhava, Western Tibet, 14th
           8th century. According to the deity’s biographies, his name, translated   century, which was sold at Sotheby’s New York, 14 March 2016, lot 731.


           For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
           please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.  FINE CHINESE ART  |  281
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