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Lot Essay
This exquisitely embroidered thangka depicts Shakyamuni Buddha seated in dhyanasana on a lotus pedestal, framed by an elaborate mandorla and flanked by his two principal disciples, Mahakasyapa and Ananda. At the base of the pedestal is a pile of precious jewels, while above presides Vajradhara, the primordial Buddha (adibuddha), overseeing the scene. Shakyamuni’s right hand extends downward in bhumisparsha mudra, the “earth-touching gesture” that commemorates the moment of enlightenment.
While somewhat similar embroidered textile thangkas are known from the Late Ming and Early Qing periods, this thangka exhibits stylistic elements that suggest a specific attribution to Choying Dorje, the Tenth Karmapa (1604-1674).
Shakyamuni is modelled in the Choying Dorje idiom, with an ovoid face, small mouth, small eyes with high arched brows, and pronounced fleshy ears. The pale green, rectangular throne platform beneath him is guarded by exuberantly stylised lions and layered lotus petals, shaded to give a sense of depth and dimensionality.
Notable too is the individualised treatment of the Buddha’s two disciples. Rather than the anonymous or idealised forms typical of the period, Mahakasyapa and Ananda are rendered with expressive, asymmetrical features and archaic patchwork robes, and the stubby hands and fingers characteristic of Choying Dorje. Their stances, gestures, and facial expressions convey psychological depth and reverence, hallmarks of the 10th Karmapa’s personal style.
The mandorla framing the Buddha is particularly striking, featuring the ashtamangala, or eight auspicious symbols, nestled within bold scrolling foliage. The composition of the mandorla follows conventions favoured by Choying Dorje in both painting and sculpture, especially in including an upper protuberance of the mandorla.
The theme of the embroidery, Shakyamuni with his two main disciples, is familiar from the numerous examples already known in the painting sets of the 16 arhats by Choying Dorje, where this theme forms the central painting (Debreczeny 2012 figs 0.1, 0.8, 3.1, 4.1; see also von Schroeder 2025, p. 272). The treatment of many elements in the embroidery is strikingly similar to these paintings, from the overall format, to details such as the clear distinction in age shown in the portrayal of Mahakasyapa and Ananda, and the rendering of their patchwork robes.
Although Choying Dorje is best known for his paintings and sculptures, his biographies and autobiographies frequently mention his work with embroideries. When he was first reunited with his main teacher, the sixth Shamarpa in 1620, when only 16 years old, he received an Arya Avalokiteshvara painted on cotton from his teacher, and in turn offered the Shamarpa “a silk embroidered image of the Buddha” (Mengele 106, notes 83, 84, 85, quoting from Choying Dorje’s autobiographical Wish Fulfilling Cow).
Another notable example is recorded in the authoritative biography of Situ and Belo: when Choying Dorje, then 33 years old, was on pilgrimage in Tsari during the Tibetan New year of 1637, “…he made the drawing for embroidered images of the Sixteen Elders surrounded by sixteen thousand four hundred arhats. He set up a workshop with ten craftsmen.” (translation by Mengele, Irmgard Riding a Huge Wave of Karma, The Turbulent Life of the Tenth Karma-pa, p 1974).
Recent scholarship—especially the work of Karl Debreczeny—has also confirmed how his artistic influence extended into textile production. Debreczeny’s early article, The Buddha’s Law Among the Jang: The 10th Karmapa’s Development of His Chinese Style Thangka Painting in the Kingdom of Lijiang (Orientations, Vol. 34, No. 4, April 2003, pp. 46–47), discusses how the eccentric figural style associated with the Karmapa was transmitted across various media, including embroidery. (see citations from this article)
In his later seminal work on the art of Choying Dorje, The Black Hat Eccentric (New York, 2012) Debreczeny quotes from several Tibetan sources describing the Karmapa’s mastery across artistic disciplines:
“Since he was young he painted thangka and made embroidery (si’u) with multi-colored threads” (p. 65, quoting an unpublished Tibetan manuscript biography of Choying Dorje)
“His practice of the arts (bzo spyod) such as embroidered silk thangkas was completely unsurpassed” (p. 253, quoting Tibetan art historian Konchok Tenzing 1994).
One key passage from the 19th century Tibetan scholar Kongtrul’s Shes bya kun khyab (Embracing All Knowables, 1846), translated by Debreczeny (ibid., p. 248), reads:
“Superior to all of these [was] the Lord of the World practicing art, the glorious Karmapa Choying Dorje. This personage studied painting with the Chukhyer Trulku Tsering of Lhodrak, a follower of the Menri manner. During the later part, however, he was inspired by Chinese scroll painting for painting (bris) and influences from [old] Kashmiri originals for his sculpture (bur). His marvellous paintings, along with his embroideries, can be seen even today.”
The present lot can be viewed as an example of one of the embroideries of Choying Dorje that “can be seen even today.”
While somewhat similar embroidered textile thangkas are known from the Late Ming and Early Qing periods, this thangka exhibits stylistic elements that suggest a specific attribution to Choying Dorje, the Tenth Karmapa (1604-1674).
Shakyamuni is modelled in the Choying Dorje idiom, with an ovoid face, small mouth, small eyes with high arched brows, and pronounced fleshy ears. The pale green, rectangular throne platform beneath him is guarded by exuberantly stylised lions and layered lotus petals, shaded to give a sense of depth and dimensionality.
Notable too is the individualised treatment of the Buddha’s two disciples. Rather than the anonymous or idealised forms typical of the period, Mahakasyapa and Ananda are rendered with expressive, asymmetrical features and archaic patchwork robes, and the stubby hands and fingers characteristic of Choying Dorje. Their stances, gestures, and facial expressions convey psychological depth and reverence, hallmarks of the 10th Karmapa’s personal style.
The mandorla framing the Buddha is particularly striking, featuring the ashtamangala, or eight auspicious symbols, nestled within bold scrolling foliage. The composition of the mandorla follows conventions favoured by Choying Dorje in both painting and sculpture, especially in including an upper protuberance of the mandorla.
The theme of the embroidery, Shakyamuni with his two main disciples, is familiar from the numerous examples already known in the painting sets of the 16 arhats by Choying Dorje, where this theme forms the central painting (Debreczeny 2012 figs 0.1, 0.8, 3.1, 4.1; see also von Schroeder 2025, p. 272). The treatment of many elements in the embroidery is strikingly similar to these paintings, from the overall format, to details such as the clear distinction in age shown in the portrayal of Mahakasyapa and Ananda, and the rendering of their patchwork robes.
Although Choying Dorje is best known for his paintings and sculptures, his biographies and autobiographies frequently mention his work with embroideries. When he was first reunited with his main teacher, the sixth Shamarpa in 1620, when only 16 years old, he received an Arya Avalokiteshvara painted on cotton from his teacher, and in turn offered the Shamarpa “a silk embroidered image of the Buddha” (Mengele 106, notes 83, 84, 85, quoting from Choying Dorje’s autobiographical Wish Fulfilling Cow).
Another notable example is recorded in the authoritative biography of Situ and Belo: when Choying Dorje, then 33 years old, was on pilgrimage in Tsari during the Tibetan New year of 1637, “…he made the drawing for embroidered images of the Sixteen Elders surrounded by sixteen thousand four hundred arhats. He set up a workshop with ten craftsmen.” (translation by Mengele, Irmgard Riding a Huge Wave of Karma, The Turbulent Life of the Tenth Karma-pa, p 1974).
Recent scholarship—especially the work of Karl Debreczeny—has also confirmed how his artistic influence extended into textile production. Debreczeny’s early article, The Buddha’s Law Among the Jang: The 10th Karmapa’s Development of His Chinese Style Thangka Painting in the Kingdom of Lijiang (Orientations, Vol. 34, No. 4, April 2003, pp. 46–47), discusses how the eccentric figural style associated with the Karmapa was transmitted across various media, including embroidery. (see citations from this article)
In his later seminal work on the art of Choying Dorje, The Black Hat Eccentric (New York, 2012) Debreczeny quotes from several Tibetan sources describing the Karmapa’s mastery across artistic disciplines:
“Since he was young he painted thangka and made embroidery (si’u) with multi-colored threads” (p. 65, quoting an unpublished Tibetan manuscript biography of Choying Dorje)
“His practice of the arts (bzo spyod) such as embroidered silk thangkas was completely unsurpassed” (p. 253, quoting Tibetan art historian Konchok Tenzing 1994).
One key passage from the 19th century Tibetan scholar Kongtrul’s Shes bya kun khyab (Embracing All Knowables, 1846), translated by Debreczeny (ibid., p. 248), reads:
“Superior to all of these [was] the Lord of the World practicing art, the glorious Karmapa Choying Dorje. This personage studied painting with the Chukhyer Trulku Tsering of Lhodrak, a follower of the Menri manner. During the later part, however, he was inspired by Chinese scroll painting for painting (bris) and influences from [old] Kashmiri originals for his sculpture (bur). His marvellous paintings, along with his embroideries, can be seen even today.”
The present lot can be viewed as an example of one of the embroideries of Choying Dorje that “can be seen even today.”