Page 76 - Bonhams Indian and Himalayan Art March 2016 New York

40 1. Hvashang 7. Nagasena
A THANGKA OF HVASHANG RETURNING 2. Abheda A. Amitayus
TO CHINA WITH THE ARHATS 3. Pindola Bharadvaja B. Ushnishavijaya
Qing, 18th century 4. Chuda Pantaka C. Virupaksha
Distemper on fine cloth; verso inscribed in gold with repeated Tibetan, 5. Pantaka D. Vaishravana
‘ohm, ah, hum’ invocations behind each figure. 6. Gopaka
Image: 26 1/2 x 17 in. (67.3 x 43.2 cm);
With silks: 43 x 23 in. (109.3 x 58.5 cm)
$30,000 - 50,000

清十八世紀 羅漢渡水唐卡

This exquisite painting is the third from a set of three depicting
Hvashang, the Chinese monk-patron, returning to China with
The Arhats. According to legend within the Tibetan book, Inviting the
Arhats, Hvashang was sent to India by a Chinese Tang emperor to
invite the sixteen great arhats so that they may transmit Buddhism
throughout China and Tibet.

In the hands of Arhat Pantaka is a Tibetan prayer calling together
the arhats finely inscribed in gold:
‘In all directions, following the command of the Triple Refuge;
Towards obscured beings, with the very intention of knowledge and love;
From immeasurable realms, unhindered, through magical power;
Please come and be seated in the middle of an ocean of cloud offerings...’

For other thangkas depicting the legend, see Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, Art of Tibet, Los Angeles, 1984, p. 91, no. 24, and
Zangchuan Fojiao Tangka-Gugong Bowuyuan Cang Wenwu Zhenpin
Quanji, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 184, no. 170.

This painting is a highly skilled example of Tibeto-Chinese thangka
production, possibly from Beijing or its surrounding areas. The precise
and controlled rendering of the figures’ facial hair and hats, the
extremely dense and detailed gold textile designs in the robes and
armors, and the sense of realism seen in the knotted textures of the
wooden boat are particularly impressive and compare to thangkas in
the Palace Museum, Beijing (ibid., pp. 26-7, nos. 22-3). The cumulus
clouds with white highlighted upper lobes are also typical elements of
18th-century Chinese production (cf., ibid., pp. 172-3, nos. 159-60).
The iron-red floral design and Shou character (壽), present on the
pair of pear-shaped vases on Hvashang’s boat, are common to
Qing-Dynasty porcelains, examples of which are also housed in
the Palace Museum, Beijing (The Complete Collection of Treasures
of the Palace Museum, Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelains, Plain
Tricoloured Porcelains, Shanghai, 2009, nos. 27, 30 & 43).

On the flag on top Hvashang’s the boat, three Chinese characters
read Qian Cang Bao (乾藏寶), with the fourth covered by the parasol.
Bao (寶, lit. ‘treasure’), is likely a metaphor for the arhats, who are the
‘great treasures’ brought to China. While the opening character Qian
(乾) appears to be a clever honorific allusion to the Qianlong emperor
(r. 1736-1796), under whose reign this thangka would have most likely
been made.

Referenced
HAR - himalayanart.org/items/61460

Provenance
The Bortolot Collection
Acquired from Navin Kumar Gallery, New York, May 1988

74 | BONHAMS