Arhat Distemper on cloth laid on board Sino-Tibetan, Qianlong period

The arhat with golden nimbus, seated in padmasana on an embroidered silk cushion upon a rock ledge, ornamented with golden earrings adorned with jewels, wearing elegant silk robes and holding a large pair of golden earrings with hands in dharmacakramudra, surrounded by lush foliage amidst a waterfall and rocky escarpments and shrouded by stylized low-hanging clouds, flanked by two golden buddhas in the upper left and right quadrants, with a turbaned devotee in elaborate silk finery kneeling at the foot of the arhat and an attendant or disciple crouched behind the upright cushion of the arhat.

Acquired privately in 2011
Private Florida Collection, acquired 1960s

Distemper on silk laid on board. Original silk brocade borders and mounting intact, with some water staining and minor fraying around edges consistent with age. Small horizontal tears below left elbow of main figure, upper cloud element and middle bottom foliage element, now stable. Creasing, losses and rubbing throughout. Pigment losses most visible in the skin of the three central figures and central green foliage elements, as well as to the blue pigments. No restoration to painting or mount. Together with inscribed yellow silk panel (now separate).
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Thangkas of arhats such as the current work are traditionally created in a larger set of twenty-three, depicting the eighteen enlightened disciples of Shakyamuni  Buddha, guardians of the four directions, and Shakyamuni Buddha. 

Throughout the Qianlong period (1735-1796) thangkas were inscribed with virtually identical inscriptions in four languages as the current work. These detail the commission and date of the work; inscriptions identify the central figure; and discuss both where it was hung, and in which position in the work was hung in regard to the greater set.  The triple silk border with larger green silk trim (visible in illustration) is a Qing hallmark, indicative of its provenance.

The four inscriptions in Tibetan, Manchu, Chinese and Mongolian on an associated yellow silk panel, now separated and possibly from another in the set, detail the commission of the current work.

The Tibetan inscription:

gnam skyong lo nga dgu pai zla ba trug pai tshes gcig la | 'a bka'a yis byin drud ten tu lha ris bLa mas bri shing mchod pai mtshon thang ba ku la byin can | m(a)nydzu skad du ba ku la a ka don ya pung a | hor skad du ba ku la a hus shi thu ken | rgya nak skad du ba ku la tsun ce zer ro ||

On the first day of the sixth month of the 59^th year of the Qianlong [period], a lama painted an image of the blessed Bakula by official decree. In Manchu he is called Bakula Akadonyapunga; in Mongolian he is called Bakula Ahuishituken; in Chinese he is called Bakula Tsunche.   

The iconography of the arhat in the current work is highly suggestive of the arhat Kalika, often depicted clutching a pair of golden earrings. The inscription dates the thangka to the 59^th year of the Qianlong period (possibly 1794). Per the Chinese inscription, the current work was hung in the Zhongzheng Hall, the then-epicenter of Tibetan Buddhist practice in Beiijing's Forbidden City. Within the Forbidden City, there were more than 40 dedicated halls dedicated to Buddhist practice, in which Mongolian and Tibetan lamas, by imperial decree, carried out daily liturgical rites and scriptural recitation for the benefit of the Qianlong imperial family.

Under the guidance of these lamas, thangkas and bronze sculptures were created by Tibetan, Han Chinese and Nepalese artists in Zhongzheng Hall. The combination of artistic influence imbued by the cultural diversity of the artisan community within the Forbidden City imbued these thangkas with a distinctive mélange of Tibetan and Chinese elements, most notably in composition, background elements and clothing.

Compare composition and inscription with two early 18^th Century thangkas from the Qing Court Collection of the Palace Museum, see Arhat Vanavasin, p 175, pl. 162 and Arhat Pindola Bharadhvaja, p. 176, pl. 163, Zang Chuan Fo Jiao Tang Ka, Vol. 59, Hong Kong, 2003.