Page 162 - Bonhams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art March 2019

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A THANGKA OF RATNASAMBHAVA the Five Presiding Buddhas, each surrounded by approximately two-
TIBET, 16TH/17TH CENTURY hundred miniature Buddha images with alternating mudras, together
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61919 representing The Thousand Buddhas of this aeon. The schema follows
Image: 33 1/4 x 26 in. (83.5 x 66 cm); an earlier painting tradition, thought to maximize the merit produced by
With silks: 50 3/8 x 29 7/8 in. (128 x 76 cm) each thangka. One such earlier, 15th-century Ratnasambhava thangka
sold at Bonhams, New York, 19 March 2018, lot 3023.
$18,000 - 22,000
Compare the present thangka with another closely related and of
西藏 十六/十七世紀 寶生佛唐卡 the same subject in the collection of Barbara and Walter Frey (HAR
69110). A 16th-century thangka of Amitabha also shares a similar
With vivid colors, lavish use of gold, and dynamic mythical animals, the composition and vibrant palette against a dark blue background
painting’s artist has created a vigorous, beautiful, and potent image of (Sotheby’s, New York, 22 March 2018, lot 934).
the Presiding Buddha Ratnasambhava. It is likely from a set depicting

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