A Thangka Depicting Three Arhats and a Carp, Tibet, 19th Century

Auction Closed

September 20, 05:33 PM GMT

Estimate

4,000 - 6,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Property of the Bothwell Family Collection

A Thangka Depicting Three Arhats and a Carp

Tibet, 19th Century

15½ by 10 in. (38 by 25.4 cm)

the three arhats depicted riding on the back of a giant carp, surrounded by two guardian figures at left, an attendant standing at the edge of the water with a tiger, all set in a green and blue landscape

Himalayan Art Resources item no. 13701.

James Bothwell, acquired in Nepal, 1960s.

The present thangka depicts three arhats riding on a giant carp traveling to the Court of the Chinese Emperor. This would have belonged to a larger set of thangkas depicting episodes from the journey the arhats made to China. While textual sources are inadequate and late regarding this narrative, they name Taizong of the Tang Dynasty as the Emperor of China in the story. Another example from a set depicting three arhats riding a carp is in the Donald and Shelley Rubin Collection (Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 704.).