A PAINTING OF A REFUGE FIELD

TIBET, 19TH CENTURY

Details

A PAINTING OF A REFUGE FIELD
TIBET, 19TH CENTURY
The lineage line with blue Samantabhadra seated in yab-yum at top center, flanked by Chenrezig on the left and Amitayus on the right, and the principal deity, blue Guyhasamajra in embrace with his red counterpart seated third from bottom center, flanked by Chakrasamvara on the left and Vajravarahi on the right, with various lineage figures and protector deities set amidst a mountainous landscape and cloud-filled skies, the verso with inscription and hand and fingerprint consecration
21 ¾ x 15 ¾ in. (57 x 40 cm.)

Provenance

The Van Der Wee Collection, Belgium, acquired in Kathmandu, February 1973

Literature

L. and P. Van der Wee, A Tale of Thangkas: Living with a Collection, 1995, pp.56-58, fig.22
Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org), item no.100617

Exhibited

De Taal van de Thangka, Ethnographic Museum, Antwerp, 1995

Brought to you by

Anita Mehta

amehta@christies.com +1 212 636 2190

Lot Essay

The handprints and fingerprints on the verso are likely from a high lama or Buddhist master, suggesting its religious significance. Kathryn H. Selig-Brown writes about this type of consecration: "In Buddhism, as in other religions, when a revered person has touched or come into contact with something, that object reverberates with a residue; the object becomes a relic" (K. Selig-Brown, Eternal Presence: Handprints and Footprints in Buddhist Art, 2004, p.13).
For a stylistic comparison see the refuge field thangka in the Rubin Museum of Art (HAR no. 65861).

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