A painting of Dorje Pal

TIBET, CIRCA 18TH CENTURY

Details

A painting of Dorje Pal
Tibet, circa 18th century
Seated on a tiger skin over a cushion holding a kila in his right hand and extending a skull cup towards a wrathful deity with his left, dressed in voluminous robes and a pointed cap, with a seated lama holding a book at upper right, Rakta Yamari and Vajra Vetali standing on a buffalo at upper left, three monks seated at lower left, and Mahakala Gonpo Legpen at lower right, all within a mountainous landscape
27¾ x 16 3/8 in. (70.5 x 41.6 cm.)

Provenance

George P. Bickford Collection, Cleveland
Private collection, New York, by inheritance

Literature

Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org), item no. 23402

Lot Essay

The present painting depicts Yungdron Dorje Pal (1284-1365), principle disciple of the Sakya master Buton Rinchen Drub, and according to Sakya tradition, a previous incarnation of the Panchen Lama. The current work would have been part of a larger set of likely thirteen paintings depicting the previous incarnations of the Panchen Lamas, based on a set of woodblock prints associated with Nartang monastery. Nine paintings of the previous Panchen Lama incarnations, based on the same Nartang monastery woodblock prints, were sold at Christie's New York on 18 September 2013 (lot 256).

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