Page 136 - Fine Chinese Art Bonhams London May 2018

110
A RARE THANGKA OF ATISHA
China, Ming Dynasty
Distemper on cloth
49cm x 35 cm (19 2/8in x 13 6/8 in;
with silk mount: 103 x 54 cm (40 1/2 x 21 2/8in)

£20,000 - 30,000
CNY180,000 - 270,000

明 彩繪阿底峽上師唐卡

Provenance: a European private collection

來源： 歐洲私人收藏

The result of Adamantio s.r.l. Science in
Conservation Laboratory, Turin, LTL16137A
carbon 14 test, 2016, notes 95.4% probability
of a date between 1450-1650 AD.

Highly revered in both China and Tibet, the Indian
Buddhist master Atisha (982-1054) is identified by
the Tibetan inscription on the lower register of the
present thangka. He is seated in vajraparyankasana
on a lotus throne issuing from an imaginary pond,
with his hands in the teaching gesture of dharma
chakramudra. His disciples, Dromton and Nagtso
are depicted to the right and left of the central figure.
Below Nagtso is a Tibetan monk depicted in a
ritual gesture as if to consecrate the thangka, and
Mahakala is depicted at the lower left corner, holding
a sword to defend the Buddhist doctrine. The upper
register is painted with the Buddhas and protective
deities associated with Atisha’s cult, such as the
Buddha of Medicine, Bhaisaiyaguru, depicted on the
far left beside two monks and above a four-armed
Avalokiteshvara; the Buddha Shakyamuni with
hands in dharmachakra mudra of teaching appears
on the far right, above the Green Tara, whose cult
Atisha introduced to Tibet.

The stylistic conventions of the present thangka
would seem to follow canons of decoration
developed in China during the Yongle period,
which continued throughout the Ming dynasty. The
dense leaf tendrils enclosing blossoming peonies,
decorating the halo surrounding Atisha, for instance,
compare closely with those decorating the aura of
flames surrounding an exceptionally large gilt-bronze
figure of Shakyamuni, Yongle mark and period, in
the British Museum, London, (acc.no.1908,0420.4),
as well as the Dhyani Buddhas embroidered on the
outstanding silk thangka of Raktayamari, Yongle
mark and period, which was sold at Christie’s Hong
Kong, 26 November 214, lot 300.

In addition, the monk staff depicted to the right of
Atisha is made in a distinctive form developed in
China during the Yongle period, illustrated in a wood
carving of the Buddha, dated to 1431 illustrated
in H.Stodard-Karmay, Early Sino-Tibetan Art,
Warminster, 1975, p.61.

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