Central Tibet, 18th century|Distemper on cloth, depicting the female bodhisattva backed by a red halo and a large mandorla, seated on a lotus base springing up from a lively lake populated by ducks, fish and mysteriously shining jewels, surrounded by The Eight Great Boshisattvas, further deities and lamas, all within a mountain landscape, with original silk mount and lining, the reverse with Tibetan inscription 'om, ah, hum'.64cm (25 1/4in) long x 43cm (17in) wide. With mount: 125cm (49 1/4in) long x 79.5cm (31 1/4in) wide. |西藏中部 十八世紀 彩繪觀音菩薩唐卡Provenance: an English private collection來源： 英國私人收藏This painting is a fine example of the Lhasa school of New Menri painting, and very possibly part of a larger set of paintings, all depicting Avalokiteshvara and the Eight Bodhisattvas, which also includes an example from the British Royal collection, and two other works from the Mead Art Museum in Amherst, Massachusetts.The main figure depicted on this work may be identified as the Khasarpana form of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, who according to the descriptions of image visualisations, sadhanas, is characterised by a white body and is seated in the pose of royal ease with the right hand held open with palm facing outward in the vara mudra (gift bestowing) gesture. Beginning at the top left and alternating from left to right, the Eight Great Bodhisattvas, surrounding the main deity and accompanied by gilded inscriptions, may be identified as follows: a golden Manjusri in vara mudra, or blessing gesture, holding a white lotus supporting the Wisdom Sutra surmounted by the sword of discrimination, worshipped by a lama who gifts him with a mandala and a white scarf; Samanthabadra, red in colour, holding a white lotus and the long-life vase as he approaches a lama; Vajrapani, green in colour, holding a lotus and a vajra; Akashagarbha, dark green in colour, holding alotus supporting a flame-tipped sword; Avalokiteshvara, white in colour, seated in a relaxed pose and flanked by two attendants, one holding a Dharma wheel; Maitreya, gold in colour sitting with crossed legs, his right hand in the abhaya mudra, or 'have no fear' gesture, the left with a lotus supporting a Dharma wheel; Sarvanivarana-Vishkambhin, seated in the lower story of a pavilion beside a lama.Compare with two very similar thangkas of Avalokiteshvara, 18th century, one in the British Royal collection, and the other in the Mead Art Museum, Amherst, Massachusetts, illustrated in M.Rhie, Picturing Enlightenment: Tibetan Thangkas in the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, Amherst, 2013, pp.52 and 76.