Dear Colleagues As a number of you have been downloading the images of the mystery thangka, I thought you might be interested in reading this explanation of the iconography, sent to me by Matthew Kapstein and shared with his permission:
'I think that Avalokiteśvara should be imagined as being at the center of his "field", Mt. Potalaka. In the Tibetan iconography of buddha fields, various divinities inhabit the clouds and figures representing those who have attained siddhi - not necessarily arhats (though arhats are also possible here) - are flying about. 'One of the curious features of this thangka is the presence of four pavilions each with a presiding Buddha, the red Buddha to the upper left being clearly Amitābha, the chief of Avalokiteśvara's "family." I'm not sure that the other Buddhas can be identified, but I believe that the thangka is referring to the notion that the inhabitants of any one "field" can marvelously visit other fields all about the universe, at any time they wish, in order to hear the Dharma as taught by the Buddhas in all directions. 'The eight seated figures, four on either side of Avalokiteśvara, are clearly the eight major bodhisattvas, one of whom is in fact another form of Avalokiteśvara. The eight are most often shown accompanying Buddhas, Amitābha in particular, though they may also be seen with Vairocana, Amoghasiddhi, Śākyamuni, etc., and were quite current in later Indian as well as East Asian Buddhist art. 'I would date the thangka to the 19th c. and suggest that the provenance is Inner Mongolia, but, as I have not examined the work directly and because there has been no pertinent material analysis of which I am aware, that's just to be taken as guesswork.’ This certainly seems to explain the unusual features of this thangka. The Dropbox link to download the images of the thangka will vanish tonight at midnight GMT, and I cannot renew it without subscribing to a professional Dropbox account which I wouldn’t otherwise use. But if anyone else would like to look at the images, I am happy to email them. Valerie J Roebuck Manchester, UK > On 1 Feb 2022, at 12:36, Valerie Roebuck <[email protected]> wrote: > > Dear Colleagues > > I wonder whether anyone can help with the subject matter and provenance of a > Tibetan-style thangka? A friend of mine inherited it from his great-uncle, > the Sinologist Michael Sullivan. Sullivan’s Chinese collection is now in the > Ashmolean, but it appears that the museum wasn’t interested in this work. The > silk mount was in very poor condition, but my friend has had it remounted in > traditional style, and wishes to donate it to a Buddhist centre we’re both > associated with. So naturally we would like to know what is going on. > > The main figure is clearly Avalokiteśvara, and some of the other figures > appear to be forms of Tārā. But there are a great many small subsidiary > scenes featuring Buddhist monks and others. The monks’ robes, apparently > featuring a black inner robe, don’t seem to belong to any of the current > Tibetan orders. > > I don’t think I can post photographs here, but perhaps there is a way I can > provide a link to them? > > Any help would be appreciated. The Buddhist centre in question is not a > Tibetan one, but the plan is to hang the thangka in the library with a panel > explaining the symbolism. > > Many thanks - > > Valerie J Roebuck > Manchester, UK
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