Artwork Page for Vajrapani Embroidered Mount with Garuda

Details / Information for Vajrapani Embroidered Mount with Garuda

Vajrapani Embroidered Mount with Garuda

painting 1600s, embroidery c. 1300

Choying Dorje, the Tenth Black Hat Karmapa

(Tibetan, 1604–1674)
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Culture
China and Tibet, Embroidery: China, Yuan dynasty (1279–1368); painting: Tibet
Medium
Opaque watercolor, gold, and silver on silk
Measurements
Overall: 114.6 x 44.5 cm (45 1/8 x 17 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1989.11.a
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

Vajrapani sometimes takes the form of Garuda, enemy of snakes.

Description

The painting depicts the Buddhist protector who holds (pani) the thunder bolt (vajra) in his right hand. He kneels in reverence and holds his left hand in a gesture of salute. This unusual image appears to have been the vision of a Tibetan monastic patriarch known for creating his own inventive paintings and sculptures.

Sewn to the painting are Chinese damask borders and rare embroideries dating to the Chinese Yuan dynasty (1279–1368). They depict man-eagle figures known as Garuda, a form occasionally assumed by Vajrapani.
A vertical silk textile of three panels depicts a central flying winged figure with blue feathers and a beak-like mouth. The figure repeats in the top and bottom panels, flying through an orange sky with stylized white and blue clouds above blue waves and jagged rocks. The middle section is plain tan silk with rectangular patches, while thin gray straps are attached at the top corners for hanging.

Vajrapani Embroidered Mount with Garuda

painting 1600s, embroidery c. 1300

Choying Dorje, the Tenth Black Hat Karmapa

(Tibetan, 1604–1674)
China and Tibet, Embroidery: China, Yuan dynasty (1279–1368); painting: Tibet

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