Page 88 - Bonhams Indian and Himalayan Art March 2016 New York

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A LARGE THANGKA FROM AN ARHAT SET:
VAJRIPUTRA
Qing, circa 1800
Distemper on cloth; with original gold-brocade
silk mount laid on board and framed.
Image: 40 1/4 x 23 3/4 in. (102.3 x 60.4 cm);
With silks: 61 x 31 3/4 in. (155 x 80.7 cm)
$10,000 - 15,000

清 約1800年 羅漢唐卡組畫之一: 伐阇羅佛多尊者

Accompanying another on the opposite page,
this thangka stems from a set of sixteen or eighteen
depicting arhats. Another two from the same set
were sold at Bonhams, San Francisco, 20 Dec
2011, lot 8426.

Here, Vajraputra is seated on a rocky outcrop under
a twisted pine. He holds a fly whisk and points to
the sky, emitting a colorful beam of light extending
towards Ushnishavijaya, the goddess of wisdom,
appearing in her celestial palace. An attendant
stands in awe of the vision.

Arhat Vajriputra was the son of an Indian king.
He was dissatisfied with worldly life and became an
ordained monk. Legend tells of how he requested to
be released from his vows in order to take revenge
on another ruler in warfare. However, seeing in a
dream the awful consequences of his anger, he
changed his mind and sought further teaching.

The painting follows an original composition tracing
back to the Yongle period (1402-1424). It roots each
arhat within a paradisiacal wilderness redolent of the
reclusive Immortals in Chinese landscape painting.
Various sets copying the Yongle original, ranging
from the 15th-19th centuries are known. Among
them the most complete is probably held within
the Palace Museum, Beijing (see Zangchuan Fojiao
Tangka-Gugong Bowuyuan Cang Wenwu Zhenpin
Quanji, Hong Kong, 2006, p.189, no.175).

Referenced
HAR - himalayanart.org/items/61459

Provenance
Collection of William J. Hobbs (1904-1977)
since early 1950s
Thence by descent to the current owner

86 | BONHAMS