SIX ILLUSTRATED FOLIOS FROM A KANGYUR


QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURYDistemper on paper; each folio mounted with original wood borders wrapped in silk brocade.Himalayan Art Resources item no.61764 Folios: 16.8 x 59 cm (6 5/8 x 23 1/4 in.) each;With original silk borders: 23.5 x 72.8 cm (9 1/4 x 28 5/8 in.) each
|These six exquisitely painted folios are part of an illuminated set of canonical Buddhist teachings (kangyur). Four folios have a central text area of Manchu and Mongolian script beautifully written in gold on indigo paper. The script likely consists of verses from the Lotus Sutra, indicated by chapter headings in Manchu and Chinese on each folio's yellow borders. A total of 18 deities and teachers are depicted, each identified by Manchu and Mongolian cartouches. Of refined quality, these folios were likely painted by imperially appointed artists in Northern China. They were probably produced within a few decades of the famous 1699 Kangxi Kanjur published in Fung, A Wondrous Predestined Occasion: Unveiling the Kangxi Kangyur, 2015, Taipei. Provenance The Estate of Theos Bernard (1908-1947), New York Sotheby's, New York, 28 March 1996, lot 23 (part)Private New York Collection 彩繪《甘珠爾》六頁清朝，十八世紀 紙本設色；每頁以原裝木框及錦緞裝裱。喜馬拉雅藝術資源網61764號 經頁：16.8 x 59釐米（6 5/8 x 23 1/4英吋）每張；裝裱：23.5 x 72. 8釐米（9 1/4 x 28 5/8英吋）每張此六張精美的經頁出自佛教經典教法總集《甘珠爾》。其中四頁中央處以滿蒙兩文抄寫經文，金字靛紙。由每頁黃邊處的滿漢兩文標題推測，所抄經文可能出自《妙法蓮華經》。六張經頁共繪十八位神祇與上師，各伴以滿文與蒙文題記。繪製考究精美，或出自中原御用藝師之手。此六頁或與1699年問世的康熙《龍藏經》約屬同一時期，參見馮明珠主編，《殊勝因緣—內府泥金寫本藏文龍藏經探索》，2015年，臺北。來源 Theos Bernard（1908-1947）家族收藏，紐約 蘇富比，紐約，1996年3月28日，拍品23號（部分）紐約私人收藏