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Lot 69
THE PARADISE OF THE GREEN TARA
Estimated Value:
3.000 € - 5.000 €
Schätzpreis:
4.500 €
Description:
Eastern Tibet, Kham, 19th c.80 x 61 cm R.
Tempera and gold on cotton fabric. The Green Tara appears in her traditional mode of representation, but for reasons of appreciation, painted in gold. She is seated on a white moon disc above a many-petaled lotus. Her lunar lotus throne is supported by a broad altar table, in whose niches on the left and right are depicted peacocks, the throne animals of the Tathagata Amitabha - symbols of neutralization of poison. Tara sits relaxed with one leg folded under and one leg extended forward. The right hand shows the granting of wishes with an open gesture, and the inky hand holds it in front of her heart with the thumb and ring finger touching. They simultaneously hold the stem of a lotus flower. The thumb and ring finger form a circle - the symbol of emptiness. On her head she wears the five-pointed bodhisattva crown, representing the Five Wisdoms of the Five Tathagas, along with other ornaments indicating her six paramita virtues. It is said that the six liberating qualities are all born out of compassion, a being able to empathize. From this, bountiful action is taken, wholesome behavior is cultivated, harmful things are refrained from, patience is practiced. Perseverance arises even in difficulties, coupled with joy. It comes to the ability that the mind gathers and concentrates, that it can stay undistracted with the ability to look, whereby understanding or wisdom arises. Tara wears two silk dhotis in yellow with blue hem, and in red, all interwoven with gold. Her shoulders are covered by a white-colored bodice, and a green shawl wraps around her body, wrapping around her arms. An orange gloriole surrounds her head, and a rainbow aura her body. A vast, light-filled landscape forms her abode - her Buddhaland. Over her lovely appearance bends, as if protecting, a tree with densely grown green crown in whose branches the icon of the Tathagata Amitabha appears. Between them there is a wide-stretched rainbow. In front of its altar an immense amount of jewels and offerings of all kinds are set up. In the middle of them appears the golden "wheel of teaching" - the Dharmacakra. Tara is accompanied by two female bodhisattvas standing on the left and right in front of her altar. On the left is Ashokakanta - "Who possesses the loveliness of an Ashoka flower". Her body color is golden-yellow. In her youthful beauty, she wears a fivefold crown, gold jewelry, and silken garments consisting of a green-colored dhoti, colorful striped leggings, a red shoulder cloth, and a blue shawl that curls on the ground on either side of her. In her right hand she holds a branch with an Ashoka flower. With both legs she stands on a half-open lotus, on a white moon disk. Ashokakanta confers fearlessness, and is considered an emanation of the protector Marici, the "goddess of dawn", who is surrounded by rays of the morning sun. On the right, the blue-colored wrathful Ekajati is shown. She also wears a quintuple crown, and gold jewelry, as well as silk clothes consisting of a red dhoti, colorful striped leggings, a red shoulder cloth, and a long green shawl. As a wrathful deity, she has a tiger skin wrapped around her hips, expressing that she has overcome the mental poisons of anger and hatred. Ekajati is one of the most powerful and fearful goddesses in Tibetan mythology. She appears as a liberator in the mandala of Green Tara. With her wrathful appearance, which is not directed against the beings themselves but their spiritual obstacles, and the powers attributed to her, she removes the fear of enemies, spreads joy, and removes personal blockages on the path to enlightenment. Ekajati is the protector of the secret mantras and is considered the Great Mother, especially the mother of the wrathful protectors and the equally wrathful deity Mahakala. Tara dwells in her light-flooded, spacious Buddha-field, above which, on the left and on the right of the picture, rainbow-arched clouds of happiness float, on which gift-giving goddesses of happiness appear. On the left, in a hollow below two mountain peaks, Tara is enthroned on an altar seat and gives teachings to listeners. Next to her is an enclosed pond in which lotuses grow and waterfowl swim. Opposite, in front of a mountainous landscape, a clergyman lingers on a meditation rug in a meditative posture. In front of him numerous gazelles have settled down as if listening to his teachings. On the left side of the painting, a red wooden frame embedded in the lawn can be seen in a zigzag shape, from which prayer cords are hung, kept by women. Further down is another pool of water surrounded by walls, where reincarnated beings are bathing amidst lotus blossoms. They have laid their garments loosely over the basin wall. Next to the lower pool, on a stone plateau, sits the Buddhist sage (Arhat) Ajita, accompanied by two monks offering worship. An elephant and a crane also linger in the small secluded park. Just to the right of the water basin is a fenced, blue-flowered courtyard with a gate on the right. An altar-like throne seat is also set up there, perhaps in anticipation of Tara approaching this consecrated place, accompanied by sky fairies carrying the badges of honor. Lay people in adoring posture listen to the music and gift-giving beings. Immediately near the small procession is a hermit's hermitage, which the painter has given the shape of a sea snail, from which springs a vigorous bubbling spring. Inside, a monk or hermit sits in a meditative posture on a meditation rug behind a fire basin. Next to him lies a stack of holy books, and on the floor of the hermitage his alms bowl. Numerous gift-giving and music-making celestial beings populate Tara's paradise to offer her worship. The popularity and esteem of Green Tara is impressively displayed in this lovingly designed Paradise Thangka. Framed under glass.
Important German private collection, collected in the 1970s and 80s, mainly acquired at Schoettle Ostasiatica, Stuttgart
Wear, traces of age
