Details
61 x 41 in. (154.9 x 104.1 cm.)
Provenance
Peaceful Wind Gallery, Santa Fe, 21 September 2001.
E. H. Thaw Collection, New York, by 2018.
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Lot Essay

Padmasambhava, whose name literally means “born from a lotus,” was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from medieval India who taught Vajrayana in Tibet during the 8th century. He is considered one of the principal early teachers to bring Buddhism to Tibet, alongside Trisong Detsen and Shantarakshita. In modern Tibetan Buddhism, Padmasambhava is revered as a Buddha foretold by Shakyamuni Buddha.
Iconographically, Padmasambhava is depicted in numerous forms representing outer, inner and secret aspects of his spiritual being. These forms can be divided into three main groups based on appearance: the Main Form, the Specialty Forms and the Meditational Forms. The representation in this lot depicts him in his Main Form.
With a steady gaze upon all beings, Padmasambhava is shown with his signature moustache and goatee. His right hand holds a gold vajra upright near his heart, while his left hand, placed in his lap, holds a white skull-cup containing a long-life vase. The ornate katvanga staff of a Vajrayana mendicant, decorated with white streamers, rests against his left shoulder. He is adorned with gold earrings and a necklace, and his head is crowned with a lotus hat – a gift of the King of Zahor – made of silk brocade and topped with a half-vajra and a single vulture feather. He is dressed in various robes of different colours, reflecting the disciplines of the Vinaya, Bodhisattva and Mantra Vehicles. Two figures flank him on either side: to his proper right is the consort Mandarava, holding the long-life symbols of an arrow with a mirror and streamers in her right hand and a vase in her left; to his proper left is the consort Yeshe Tsogyal, holding a skull offering bowl with her left hand.
The painting is executed with a saturated, vibrant palette, as can see from the use of bright red, green and yellow – colours typical of Tibetan religious paintings. The background features two faded pink flowers, possibly peonies, on either side of the central figure. The rendering of the flowers hints at Chinese influence, which is discernible in other Tibetan paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries.
A thangka of Padmasambhava, dated circa 1800, was sold at Christie’s New York on 23 March 2010, lot 272, for $22,500. Another 19-century thangka of Padmasambhava as a Wealth Bestower was sold more recently at Christie’s New York on 15 March 2017, lot 251, for $10,000.

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