An important thangka depicting Mahasiddha Damarupa and Avadhutipa, Tibet, Sakya school, circa 1420 | 薩迦派 約1420年 藏傳大成就者札瑪如巴及阿瓦度帝巴唐卡 設色布本

Swiss Private Collection.

Galerie Koller, Zurich, 20th / 21st November 1992, lot 5.

__________________________________________________________________________

瑞士私人收藏

Koller藝廊，蘇黎世，1992年11月20-21日，編號5

Jörg Heimbel and David P. Jackson, “Portraying the Lineage Masters of the Path with Its Fruit: Lowo Khenchen’s Description of Ngorchen’s Commission”, in Schaeffer et al, Histories of Tibet, Wisdom Publications, 2023, pp. 55-95, pl. 5.

__________________________________________________________________________

Jörg Heimbel與David P. Jackson，〈描繪果乘道傳承祖師：洛沃堪欽對俄爾堪欽所委託作品的描述〉，西藏歷史，智慧出版，2023年，頁55-95，圖版5

The two mahasiddhas are seated beneath golden arches (torana) topped with flaming jewels motifs (triratna) on a large double throne, with Damarupa on the left holding his eponymous skull drum (damaru) in his right hand and skull cup (kapala) in his left, and Avadhutipa gesturing with his right hand and holding a skull cup in his left. Mahasiddhas and panditas are depicted in the upper and side registers together with the meditation deity Vairochana Hevajra lower left accompanied by his entourage of the eight dancing Phan pa goddesses in the lower register. The painting is framed with what is likely the original blue silk fishtail mounts with two floral-pattered silk veils, and is inscribed in gold characters in the blue border beneath the lower register: grub chen budha shri pa’i thugs kyi dgongs pa yongs su rdzogs par gyur cig: “May the intentions of Drupchen Buddhashri be completely fulfilled”; with invocations in the red border beneath identifying the two principal figures (Jörg Heimbel, personal communication). The work is one of a series of thangkas depicting the lineage of Lamdre masters commissioned by Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo (1382-1456) in memory of his guru Buddhashri (1339-1420): three others are known from the set of thangkas, each with a more or less similar inscription in gold along the lower register, see Heimbel and Jackson, “Portraying the Lineage Masters of the Path with Its Fruit: Lowo Khenchen’s Description of Ngorchen’s Commission”, in Schaeffer et al, Histories of Tibet, Wisdom Publications, 2023, p. 60, where the authors suggest that Ngorchen’s commission of this set of paintings was made while he was still at Sakya monastery shortly after the death of his guru in 1420, thus dating the paintings to circa 1420, ibid, p. 58. The series includes the first painting in the set, formerly in the Stella Kramrisch Collection and now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, portraying the primordial Buddha Vajradhara, progenitor of the Lamdre teaching, ibid, pl. 3 and Jackson, The Nepalese Legacy in Tibetan Painting, New York, 2010, fig. 8.4. Another from the series, depicting Sonam Tsemo (1142-1182) and Dragpa Gyaltsen (1147-1216) is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Heimbel and Jackson, op. cit., pl. 6 and Jeff Watt, HAR, no. 87230. And the third, depicting Virupa and Kanha, is in the Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert H. Kinney Collection and currently exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in Heimbel and Jackson, op. cit., pl. 4 and Kurt Behrendt, Mandala: Mapping the Buddhist Art of Tibet, New York, 2024, cat. no 75. 

The Tibetan monastery of Ngor was founded in 1429 by the Sakya master Kunga Zangpo (1382-1456) in a remote area of Tsang Province southwest of Shigatse. Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo insisted on strict monastic practice at the new monastery, to reestablish the core tenets of Sakya order teaching. The monastery became a renowned centre of esoteric instruction, attracting monks from all over Tibet hoping to receive initiation from Ngorchen, who was revered as an emanation of the primordial Buddha Vajradhara. Some of the finest fifteenth century Tibetan thangkas were commissioned by Ngorchen and painted in Sakya and Ngor monasteries by Newar artists from the Kathmandu Valley. An account from the Ngor annals tells of six Newar artists arriving at the monastery just as Kunga Zangpo had ordered commemorative mandalas to be painted in honour of his teachers Buddhashri (1339-1420) and Sabzang Pakpa Zhönnu Lodrö (1346–1412). The itinerant artists were said to have refused work on their journey into Tsang as they felt miraculously impelled to the isolated monastery, where Ngorchen entrusted them with the commission. The Ngor and Sakya monastery paintings that survive, such as the three fine examples in this collection (lots 31-33), are evidence of the quintessential Nepalese painting style in their mastery of bold color and form, and exquisite animated detail. The paintings remain a testament to the close relationship between the patrons of Sakya order monasteries and the finest Newar artists of the day.

__________________________________________________________________________

幅唐卡描繪兩位大成就者，端坐於金色拱門下之雄偉雙層寶座，拱門頂點綴火焰形三寶紋飾。左側為札瑪如巴，右手持其著名的骷髏鼓，左手持骷髏碗；右側為阿瓦度帝巴，右手結印，左手持骷髏碗。唐卡的上方及側邊繪有其他大成就者包括班智達，左下角描繪禪修本尊喜金剛，其下方繪八名舞姿曼妙的女神。此唐卡以魚尾式藍絲綢天地邊裝裱，遮有兩幅花紋絲質佛簾，應為原裱，下方藍色邊框內以金色銘文：「願大成就者佛陀希之意願圓滿實現」。紅色邊框內則題有祈請文，註明兩位中心人物之身份。上述由Jörg Heimbel博士親自註解。此幅為「道果」傳承上師的唐卡系列之一，乃由道果派大師俄爾欽．貢噶桑波（1382-1456）為紀念其師佛陀室利（1339-1420）而委託製作。此系列唐卡已知尚有三幅，下方皆有類似的金色銘文，參見Heimbel與Jackson，〈描繪果乘道傳承祖師：洛沃堪欽對俄爾堪欽所委託作品的描述〉，西藏歷史，智慧出版，2023年，頁60。作者推測，俄爾堪欽於1420年其上師圓寂後不久，尚居於薩迦寺時委託繪製此系列唐卡，因此推斷該畫作完成於約1420年，參見前引，頁58。此系列作品中包括首幅唐卡原為Stella Kramrisch 收藏，現藏於費城藝術博物館，可再次參考參見前引，圖版3，另見David Jackson所著《西藏繪畫中的尼泊爾遺產》，紐約，2010年，圖版8.4。該作件俄欽之委託銘文，推測此系列唐卡應完成於1429年俄爾寺創立至俄欽圓寂（1456年）之間。另一幅描繪索南次莫（1142–1182）及札巴堅贊（1147–1216），現藏於波士頓美術館見，參見Heimbel與Jackson，前述圖版6，以及Jeff Watt，HAR編號87230。其三描繪毘魯巴與克里希納巴，現藏於Gilbert H. Kinney 伉儷私人收藏，目前於大都會藝術博物館展出，見Heimbel與Jackson，前述圖版4及 Kurt Behrendt《曼荼羅：繪製西藏佛教藝術》，紐約，2024年， 編號75。

俄爾寺位於西藏山南地區的偏遠地區，由藏傳薩迦派大師貢噶桑波於1429年創立，並堅持新寺的嚴格修道規範，旨在重新確立薩迦教派之核心教義。此寺很快成為著名的密宗教學中心，其被尊崇為金剛總持的化身，吸引西藏各地僧侶前來接受俄爾欽之加持。貢噶桑波曾委託創作了一系列精美的十五世紀西藏唐卡，並由來自加德滿都谷地的尼瓦爾畫師於道果及薩迦派寺院創作。來自該寺紀錄的記載中提到，六位尼瓦爾藝術家受俄爾欽·貢噶桑波委託，為紀念其師佛陀室利（1339-1420）及Sabzang Pakpa Zhönnu Lodrö (1346–1412)，繪製紀念性曼荼羅而抵達薩寺院。據說畫師感受到神祕的召喚，拒絕所有其他工作，前往山南來到此座偏僻的寺廟，並接受俄爾欽委託。現存之俄爾寺唐卡，如本次拍賣中的三幅（拍品31-33），展現了尼瓦爾畫風的典型特徵，其大膽的色彩和形態，搭配精緻的細節，無不顯示出當時尼瓦爾藝術家與薩迦派寺院間之緊密關係。