A PAUBHA DEPICTING SITATARA

Estimated Value:

8.000 € - 12.000 €

Result:

7.122 € incl. Premium and VAT

Description:

Nepal, 15th cent.
35 x 25,5 cm
The centre of the painting is showing Sitatara seated in vajrasana on a lotus base placed on a throne, her right hand lowered in varadamudra whie the left gives the vitarkamudra, lotuses flowering along her upper arms, wearing sari, bejewelled, her face displaying a serene expression with downcast eyes, the hair combed in a chignon secured with a tiara, halo behind, flanked by the standing Acala holding the sword and the seated Syamatara, the upper register with Vajradhara in the centre flanked by Ushnishavijaya and Amitabha, within a blue painted border.
German private collection
Paubha painting developed in the Kathmandu Valley as a distinctly Nepalese form of Buddhist pictorial art, closely related to but independent from the Tibetan thangka tradition. Unlike the portable thangkas used mainly for private devotion, paubhas were often created for monastic rituals and public Newar ceremonies. The earliest known examples date from the 13th century, reaching their artistic height during the Malla period (14th-17th century). Typical features include a central deity within an architectural shrine, surrounded by attendant figures and rendered in vivid reds, greens, and gold on cotton cloth. The White Tārā (Sanskrit: Śvetatārā, Nepali: Sitatārā) embodies compassion, purity, and longevity. She is among the most venerated manifestations of the goddess Tārā, the female bodhisattva born from the tears of Avalokiteśvara. Her iconography is standardized: seated in full lotus posture, her right hand performs the varada mudrā (gesture of generosity), while her left holds a blue lotus (utpala). The seven eyes on her forehead, palms, and soles symbolize omniscient awareness and vigilance. In Nepalese paubhas she often appears within an ornate shrine, emphasizing the link between transcendence and devotional practice - Wear, traces of age, restoration and soiled

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