TIBET, 19TH CENTURY

Details

An Astrological Manuscript
Tibet, 19th Century
Comprising 15 leaves vibrantly painted with Bodhisattva and monk figures seated on cushions and within niches at top and multicolored grids below with animals, religious symbols and charts filled with inscriptions
14 3/8 x 41 in. (36.5 x 104 cm.)

Special notice

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Lot Essay

Astrological diagrams serve as important aids for divination. The six by sixty colored fields in the upper half mark the 360 days that constitute the Tibetan calendar. The years are arranged in cycles of sixty, combining twelve (zodiacs) by five (elements); compare to an astrological thangka in the Essen Collection, cf. C. Wilpert (ed.), Tibet. Buddhas, Gods, Saints, 2001, cat. no. 42.

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