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A collection of thangka icons (63 numbers in total)
VK4851-67,70,72,86,92
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Type
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Painting
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Materials
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Cotton, painted
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Measurements
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59-63 cm, 43-44 cm
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Creator name
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Unknown
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Where it was made
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China; Shanxi; Wutai Shan
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Time period
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Before 1909
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Function
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In Tibetan Buddhism, Thangka icons are used as means of meditation.
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Acquisition
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Acquired in Urga (present-day Ulaanbaatar) in Mongolia from the so-called Beijing Shop (Beejing badarkhu) by Finnish linguist G. J. Ramstedt and archaeologist Sakari Pälsi during their expedition to Mongolia in 1909. The Beijing Shop was an agency representing the Wutai Shan monasteries in Urga.
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Copyright
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Acknowledgements
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Text by Pilvi Vainonen
Photos by Osmo Thiel, 1980
Literature:
Halén, Harry: Mirrors of the Void. Buddhist Art in the National Museum of Finland. National Board of Antiquities 1987.
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Owner
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State property, National Board of Antiquities, Finland
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Museum
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Museum of Cultures, National Museum of Finland
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Credit line
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Why this is a masterpiece
As individual pieces, these thangkas have no great value, but as a diversified collection, they form a unique set of Tibetan Buddhist religious art. The following groups and figures are represented: Šākyamuni on the lotus throne, Šākyamuni's former lives (15 nos., an unidentified avadāna illustration), the Light-Ray Buddha (illustr.), the 16 arhats and their two lay attendants (18 nos.), the four lokapālas (5 nos.), the Indian mahāgurus (8 nos., the philosopher Nāgārjuna illustrated), the Great Assembly (2 nos.), two mandalas (2 nos.), the protectors (10 nos., dharmapāla Yama illustrated) and Sarvabuddhadākinī (illustr.).
History of the Object
The thangkas are painted by Chinese artists in workshops at the Wutai Shan Mountain and transported to Urga (Mongolia) to be sold there. They were new and unmounted at the time of aacquisition, so the colours were - and still are - bright and undamaged. The set represents a peculiar Sino-Mongolian style of Tibetan Buddhist painting.
Download this masterpiece's images:
VK4851-67,70,72,86,92_vk_4851-92
VK4851-67,70,72,86,92_vk_4851-92
VK4851-67,70,72,86,92_vk_4851-67
VK4851-67,70,72,86,92_vk_4851-70
VK4851-67,70,72,86,92_vk_4851-72
VK4851-67,70,72,86,92_vk_4851-86
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