A THANGKA DEPICTING TAKLUNG ABBOTS KUYELWA AND SANGYE YARJON TIBET, CIRCA 1300 |

the abbot Kuyelwa on the left wearing a red patchwork robe and floral patterned cloak, with closely cropped black hair, chiseled features, slightly parted lips, a thin moustache and tuft of beard below, hands in dharmachakra mudra, seated on a lotus supported by a tiered and stepped snow lion throne draped with a floral textile at centre, with a green patterned cushion behind against a torana with viyala and elephant to the left, male and female kinnara emerging from swirling oceans on the cross bar above and a khyung atop the golden halo, the abbot in discourse with Sangye Yarjon on the right wearing a red patchwork robe and cloak of geometric and vajra patterns, with similarly cropped black hair and chiselled features, but close shaven, hands in vitarka and dhyana mudra, and seated on a lotus supported by a tiered and stepped snow lion throne draped with a geometric textile at centre, with a green patterned cushion behind against a torana with viyala and elephant to the right and an assembly of jewels, ritual objects and crossed fly whisks between the hierarchs, makara emerging from swirling oceans on the cross bar above and a khyung atop the golden halo, the Taklung founder Tashipel seated in dharmachakra mudra between and above the two abbots, with staves of multi-coloured mountains above, the bodhisattva Vajrapani and Buddha Shakyamuni appearing from behind the mountains left and right, and shrines in the upper register with Vajradhara, Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, Milarepa, Gampopa and Phagmodrupa, a meandering lotus below the snow lion thrones with a donor monk making offerings in the lower register, with fragmentary images of deities including blue four-armed Mahakala, blue Heruka, white Aparajita, red Vajravarahi with blue boar head protruding at left, and two unidentified red deities at right Himalayan Art Resources item no. 18344.

Lower register with considerable loss and splits in the canvas. Considerable losses on right hand side of painting from top to bottom. Water damage and staining to right hand figure. Creasing and loss of pigment throughout. No restoration.
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This important thangka depicts Kuyelwa (1191-1236) and Sangye Yarjon (1203-1272) the second and third abbots of Taklung monastery seated in discourse at the centre of the painting. The founder of the monastery Taklung Thangpa Chenpo (1142-1210), also known as Tashipel, is shown in a smaller image between and just above them. The upper register depicts their lineage with celestial progenitor Vajradhara to the left; the Indian yogin Tilopa (fl. late 10th-early 11th c); Tilopa’s Indian disciple Naropa (956-1040); his Tibetan disciple Marpa (1012-1096); Marpa’s disciple Milarepa (1040-1123); Milarepa’s chief disciple Gampopa (1079-1153) and Gampopa’s chief disciple Phagmotrupa (1110—1070) at the far right. A similar painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art is almost certainly from the same series, fig 1, and depicts Phagmodrupa in discourse with the first abbot Taklung Thangpa Chenpo, see Steven M. Kossak and Jane Casey Singer, Sacred Visions: Early Paintings from Central Tibet, New York, 1998, p. 114, cat. no. 26.

The present painting depicting the second and third abbots thus follows the Cleveland painting in the series. No other paintings from the set have come to light thus far, but there is a possibility that others exist, or once existed, depicting succeeding abbots of the monastery, or ones earlier in the series depicting lineage masters. Although the lamas are not identified by inscription, they may be distinguished by the lineage before them. Phagmodrupa, with his distinctive moustache and bearded cheeks, appears at the end of the upper register, cf. these features with the Cleveland portrait. Phagmodrupa’s pupil Tashipel, shown between the two main figures, is also identifiable by distinctive features of moustache and three-pointed goatee, cf. ibid, p. 91, cat. no. 18. Tashipel’s student Kuyelwa, who was abbot 1191-1236 is therefore identifiable as next in line and seated on the left, with the third in line Sangye Yarjon, abbot 1210-1236, to his right, cf. three thangka depicting Kuyalwa and Sangye Yarjon with Tashipel above, in David P. Jackson, op. cit. figs. 4.5, 4.6, 4.8.

Although verisimilitude was not a requirement in Tibetan portraiture, there is evidence that efforts were often made to preserve elements of hierarchs’ physiognomical features and other physical characteristics, even in portraits created long after their deaths. Distinctive shapes of beards and moustaches are more or less reliably consistent throughout the corpus of Taklung portraits, and aid identification of individual lamas. Inscriptions on the back of the painting contain vivifying mantras, the ye dharma and patience creeds, and om mani padme hum.

The painting, in common with the Cleveland example, is defined by a vibrant palette, and subtle shading giving dimension and animation throughout. The earliest date for the painting would be 1236 when Sangye Yarjon was enthroned as abbot, but it is not known if there are, or were, any more portraits in the series of succeeding abbots that would thus indicate a later date for the series.

A tentative date of circa 1300 is ascribed in comparison with other paintings of the period. The dating is corroborated by C-14 dating that produced a result of 1268+/-50 years with a probability of 85.3%.

On the verso of the current lot, there are lengthy inscriptions behind the two main figures. Both inscriptions present the Tibetan precept “Patience” verse, followed by the “Ye dharma” verse, also known as the Buddhist creed. It is also referred to as the Dependent Origination dharani.

The “Patience” verse is said to have been spoken by Buddha Vipashyin, and is cited in Buddhist vinaya literature. It may be translated as follows:

The holy ascetic practice of patience is the best path to Buddhahood, thus the Buddha has said. For a monk to harm others is not virtuous practice.

The Buddhist creed may be translated as follows:

Of those phenomena which arise from causes,
Those causes have been taught by the Tathagata [Buddha]
And their cessation too, thus proclaims the Great Ascetic.