尺寸：114 by 70 cm
年代：清代乾隆
质地：唐卡
风格：乾隆宫廷
来源：拍卖会
成交：1,667,500元(2017.12); 750,000港元(2015.04)
参阅：北京保利 香港苏富比
鉴赏：
北京宫廷 棉布矿彩
[备注] 香港苏富比
此幅唐卡上，主尊全跏趺坐于仰莲座上，有三面八臂，周身具红色身光和绿色头光。主尊上方蓝色天空中绘无量寿佛，左右两旁各有四位天女，下方绿色大地上绘白度母和绿度母。画面以绿、红色彩为主，点缀少许蓝和白色，台座之上则以红彩描绘，金碧辉煌，宫廷气十足。主尊两旁是层层山峦，为内地典型的“长波文青绿山水”形式。整幅布局有序，勾勒精细，设色华丽，为清代乾隆宫廷唐卡经典之作。唐卡背面有“须弥福寿”汉文题记，此幅唐卡出自承德须弥福寿之庙，“须弥山”，藏语名“扎会”，是指居住的吉祥之地；“福寿”，藏语名“伦布”。须弥福寿意思是像吉祥的须弥山那样多福多寿。

乾隆四十五年（1780年），西藏六世班禅为庆贺乾隆帝70大寿，从日喀则扎什伦布寺启程，长途跋涉两万余里历经十三个月来到承德。乾隆帝为隆重迎接六世班禅的到来，仿日喀则扎什伦布寺特建须弥福寿之庙供六世班禅讲经和居住，所以，此庙又称“班禅行宫”。

整幅唐卡布局有序，设色华丽端庄，工艺极精，同类可参考Lot 6022及其参考图片，即现藏于旧金山亚洲艺术馆、辽宁省博物馆及曾展于美国鲁宾美术馆的几幅同为承德须弥福寿之庙的唐卡作品。几幅作品在对于白度母和绿度母以及红肤无量寿的刻画上属于同一规范，蓝色天空中两侧的天女、云纹以及山峦皆如出一辙。较为特殊之处在于对主尊面部的刻画有汉人画师的风格，佛母双目平视，神态祥和，用线细致考究，在一般唐卡作品宗教性的基础上又增加了对于人物面部艺术性的表现。据记载，宫廷画师姚文瀚曾于乾隆四十五年奉命赴热河为新建须弥福寿之庙的唐卡尊神改画眉眼，观此幅作品整体之风格、工艺，其衣纹、背景等应为喇嘛画师所做，而主尊面部开脸，应为汉人画师所雕琢，尤为突出。

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A RARE IMPERIAL THANGKA OF USHNISHAVIJAYA
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD
finely painted on cotton with Ushnishavijaya, the three-headed Goddess of Longevity, below Amitayus and above White and Green Tara, all set against a vivid blue and green landscape background, mounted in silk, framed

品相说明:
finely painted on cotton with Ushnishavijaya, the three-headed Goddess of Longevity, below Amitayus and above White and Green Tara, all set against a vivid blue and green landscape background, mounted in silk, framed

Catalogue Note
This large and vividly painted thangka is one of a set commissioned for the Xumifushou Temple, which was built by the Qianlong Emperor to celebrate his seventieth birthday in 1780. The temple was a replica of the Tashilhunpo of Tibet, the monastery of the Panchen Lama. Three other thangkas from the same series, all painted in the Forbidden City, Beijing by monk painters, the first two in the collection of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the third in the collection of the Tibet Museum, Frey, Zurich, are illustrated by Terese Tse Bartholomew, ‘Thangkas of the Qianlong Period’, in Jane Casey Singer & Philip Denwood, eds., Tibetan Art: Towards a Definition of Style, London, 1997, p. 110 and 116, pls. 91, 98 and 99. Depicting Samantabhadra, Ratnasambhava and Cittavisramana Avalokitsesvara respectively, they share identical features with the current thangka, with similar iconography set against a similar vivid background derived from Chinese blue-and-green landscapes. All depict Amitayus, the Buddha of Infinite Life at the top centre of the painting, attended on both sides, and included for the purpose of granting longevity to the Qianlong Emperor. The popular Chinese deities White Tara and Green Tara are depicted below.

For a smaller and earlier thangka, painted in similar Chinese court style, see the thangka of Avalokiteshvara Ekadashamukha from the collection of Willem Van Heusden, dated to 1769, sold in our Paris rooms, 18th December 2012, lot 29. For another thangka of Ushnishavijaya painted in similar style in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see Cultural Relics of Tibetan Buddhism Collected in the Qing Palace, The Forbidden City Press, Hong Kong, 1992, pl. 19-1.

Compare also another painting from this same set, centered with the Bodhisattva Satakratu, illustrated in Asian Art Gallery, Chinese Imperial Patronage: Treasures from Temples and Palaces, Vol. II, London, 2005, p. 122, pl. 46; and another Imperial Chinese thangka of Ushnishavijaya, illustrated, ibid, pp.106-7, pl. 40, where the authors point out that Rolpal Dorje, the National Preceptor under the Qianlong Emperor and supreme religious authority, dedicated the second floor of the temple to the cult of Ushnishavijaya, and that the largest and most frequent rituals were performed there by a contingent of fifty lamas.

In all these 'Chengde-style paintings', the principal deity in each painting is depicted with the same intricate textile designs finely painted in gold on red robes, deep blue and gold aprons, and with the same attention to detail and exquisite gold work throughout. The treatment of the landscape and clouds is identical and the design of the gold line-work on the lotus petals of the pedestals of the principal deities in each painting is typical of the Qing court repertoire.