EARLY MING DYNASTY (1368-1424)

Details

A FINE AND RARE EMBROIDERED THANGKA OF LOKAPALA VIRUPAKSA
EARLY MING DYNASTY (1368-1424)
The finely embroidered thangka divided into three registers of decoration, framed with a classic scroll couched in gold thread: the top register contains a sacred parasol amid clouds, protection from the heat and evil desires; the middle register with the powerful and red-faced deity Lokapala Virupaksa, one of the four celestial kings who is responsible for governing the west, grasping a snake in one hand and a pearl in the other, he is wearing Mongol-style armor, breastplate and boots, a gold crown and arm bands, framed in celestial scarves he is seated in a martial pose on a tiger skin upon a lotus throne; all above a lower register with lotus scrolls, the five flower heads supporting one lantsa character of a five-syllable sacred mantra; all picked out in silk threads in tones of blue and green, coral, pink, white, mustard yellow, tan and white
6 7/8 x 15 5/8 in. (17.5 x 39.5 cm.), framed and glazed

Literature

Galloway and Simcox, The Art of Textiles, London, Spink and Son, Ltd., 1989, p. 25, no. 21.

Exhibited

Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Heavens' Embroidered Cloths, One Thousand Years of Chinese Textiles, 1995, no. 22a.
New York, Japan Society, Crosscurrents: Masterpieces of East Asian Art from New York Private Collections, 22 March-11 July 1999, no. 12.

Lot Essay

The result of a radioactive carbon 14 test done at Oxford University is consistent with the dating of this lot.

See footnote to lot 196.

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