Page 118 - Bonhams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art March 2019

899
A THANGKA OF USHNISHAVIJAYA
TIBET, 19TH CENTURY
Distemper on cloth.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.88596
Image: 30 1/2 x 22 3/4 in. (77.5 x 58 cm);
With silks: 59 1/4 x 33 3/4 in. (150.5 x 86 cm)
$30,000 - 50,000

西藏 十九世紀 尊勝佛母唐卡

Set within a verdant landscape, this beautiful thangka depicts Ushnishavijaya, the goddess
of long-life, inside the dome of a richly embellished stupa. Appearing from the light
emanated from Buddha’s ushnisha, she has three faces, in white, yellow and blue, and
eight arms each in different mudras or holding various attributes.

On either side of the central stupa, white Avalokiteshvara and blue Vajrapani each hold
a lotus flower and a fly whisk. They are surrounded by four near-identical blue-colored
wrathful deities, differentiated only by the attributes in their hands – Acala with a sword,
Takkiraja with a hook, Niladanda with a stick, and Vajrapani with a vajra. Above the blue
and green mountains executed in the Chinese style, Shadakshari and Green Tara rise on
either side, above whom Tsongkhapa and another Gelug teacher are each joined by two
disciples. In the foreground, Shri Devi Magzor Gyalmo, Yama Dharmaraja, and Vaishravana
gather around the stupa base.

Compare to a related composition, also with Ushnishavijaya in a large central stupa against
a green landscape, in the collection of Shelley and Donald Rubin (HAR 975).

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