EASTERN TIBET, 18TH-19TH CENTURY

The present painting is from a larger set of twenty-three paintings depicting the hundred and eight avadana stories preached by Buddha Shakyamuni to demonstrate the consequences of a person’s deeds in a previous life. The present work follows closely the style established by Situ Panchen Chokyi Jungne (1700-1774) at Palpung Monastery in 1733. The Situ Panchen style of avadana paintings illustrated the various stories as small vignettes within an open and uncrowded landscape. Numerous sets were painted after the original set of compositions designed by Situ Panchen, and a nearly complete set, formerly in the Jucker Collection, is illustrated by H. Kreijger in Tibetan Painting The Jucker Collection, London, 2001, p. 36. The composition of the present painting corresponds closely to the relevant example in the Jucker Collection, illustrated on Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 89112 and to another painting from a different set illustrated on Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 93679.