Page 136 - Bonhams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art March 2019

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A THANGKA OF THE SECOND PANCHEN LAMA, A THANGKA OF PADMASAMBHAVA IN HIS PURE LAND
LOBZANG YESHE TIBET, 18TH CENTURY
TIBET, 18TH CENTURY Distemper on cloth; with original silk veil and mounts. Recto with
Distemper on cloth; recto with gold Tibetan inscriptions identifying gold Tibetan inscriptions identifying figures and places; verso with red
figures; verso consecrated with a red hand print in the center. Tibetan ‘om, ah, hum’ invocations at the center.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61888 Himalayan Art Resources item no.61954
27 1/2 x 18 1/4 in. (69.8 x 46.3 cm) Image: 24 1/2 x 17 1/4 in. (62.2 x 43.8 cm);
With silks: 50 x 29 in. (127 x 73.5 cm)
$6,000 - 8,000
$6,000 - 8,000
西藏 十八世紀 二世班禪喇嘛洛桑益西唐卡
西藏 十八世紀 蓮花生大士居淨土唐卡
This well-executed painting is a single, complete composition rather
than being part of a thangka set. It depicts the Panchen Lama Packed with fine detail, this composition depicts Padmasambhava
incarnation lineage of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Its in his palace atop the Copper Colored Mountain. Padmasambhava
central figure is the Second Panchen Lama Lobzang Yeshe (1663- has resided in this Pure Land paradise since leaving Tibet. He is
1737), also recognized as the Fifth Panchen Lama according to the accompanied by his two consorts, and worshipped by numerous
Tashilhunpo system. He is joined by the First (or Fourth) Panchen Lama lamas and kings lucky enough to have been reborn there. Above the
Lobzang Chokyi Gyeltsen (1570-1662) above. The present example four-storied golden palace, celestial gods and goddesses dance and
compares favorably to another painting of the Second Panchen Lama play music. The top register is centered by Brahma in his own palace,
in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. (F1905.70; HAR 69608). It flanked by Palchen Nga Gyal and Longchenpa on either side. In the
echoes the present thangka’s treatment of the blue brocaded throne, prominent orange mountain caves below, yogis seclude themselves for
the landscape, and the Panchen Lama’s voluminous meditation cloak. their tantric practice. On the other side of the water in the foreground,
The Freer thangka, however, survives in a lesser condition. tigers, snakes, demons, and cannibals engage in gruesome activities,
forming a stark contrast with Padmasambhava’s paradise. This was a
Provenance popular subject in 18th- and 19th-century Tibet. A similar composition
Private New York Collection by 1990s is published in Rhie & Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion, New York,
1991, pp.362-3, no.149.

Provenance
Private New Jersey Collection before 1969
134 | BONHAMS