TIBET, 18TH CENTURY

Details

A PAINTING OF ARHATS PATANKA AND ABHEDA
TIBET, 18TH CENTURY
Both seated on low thrones and wearing multicolored robes, Patanka at top holding a manuscript and backed by a red halo, Abheda at midground holding a stupa and backed by a black halo, with the attendant Dharmatala seated in a chair under a parasol at middle right, holding a flywhisk and a vessel from which a vision of Amitayus emerges, with Tara and Ushnishavijaya above and Virupaksha and Vaishravana below, all set in a mountainous landscape with a fruit-filled tree at right
Opaque pigments and gold on textile
22 ¾ x 16 ¼ in. (57.8 x 41.3 cm.)

Provenance

The Shelley and Donald Rubin Collection, acquired in New York, 1 September 1998
Rubin Museum of Art, gifted from the above in 2006

Literature

Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.org), item no. 759

Brought to you by

Sandhya Jain-Patel

sjain-patel@christies.com +1 212 636 2162

Lot Essay

Pantaka is the 13th and Abheda the 16th, and Dharmatala is the layman attendant to the Sixteen Great Arhats. This painting is composition seven from a seven-painting set of Shakyamuni Buddha and the Sixteen Great Arhats, and would also include the patron Hvashang and the two remaining Guardians of the Directions, Dritarashtra and Virudhaka (in addition to the two depicted here).

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