ASIAN COLLECTION

PRESENTED BY

CREATURE COMFORTS

Hansville, Washington  USA

TEL:   360-638-1890     FAX:   360-638-1890 

TIBETAN THANGKAS

Traditionally, Thangkas or Scroll paintings, were painted by monks. On market days and at celebrations, in villages and pilgrimage sites, traveling monks and lamas unrolled Thangkas and told stories about saints and deities as they pointed out elements in the painted tableaux. For protection, pilgrims and travelers would take a rolled up thangka along on their perilous journeys.  Both uses are still in practice, but to a lesser degree than years ago.

Thangkas function as a religious aid in ritual actions and as a help to meditation.  Thangkas are also commissioned for their protective and positive force they radiate when there is illness, death or other life obstacles.

Composition is usually symmetrical with the main figure in the middle and less important deities on the sides. Hierarchy is central to the ordering of appearance of supreme teachers at the top and in decreasing order of importance: Yidams, bodhisattvas, dakinis, and lesser deities.  There is also a hierarchy of size in the Tibetan pantheon. Thangkas are seldom signed as they are not considered "art"...as they are used as an aid in spiritual practice.

The following selection of Tibetan Thangkas are  rather rare and very fine paintings.  They are approxiamtely 20-50 years old. The gold paint is 24 K gold.

Wheel of Life

The Wheel  of life probably has the oldest ancestry of any Tibetan form of
scroll painting.  It was said to  have been described by the Buddha himself.
It represents in pictorial form the fundamental principles of Tibetan
Buddhism.  The Wheel of life shows the six spheres of existence within which
sorrowful lives take place and to which man is chained by desire, ignorance
and hatred. The circle is held by demon Mara. The outer circle shows the
twelve link chain of causation which binds living beings to the misery of
the inner circle of six worlds.

1216/1215                        Painting: 14" H x 10" W
                                          Framed: 30" H x 19" W
                                          Price:  $245.00

1216

1215

Wheel of life
Please refer to description on photos 1216/1215

1225/1224                   Painting:  18" H x 13" W
                                      Framed: 35" H x 22" W
                                      Price: $375.00

1225

1224

Wheel of Life
Please refer to description on photos 1216/1215

1227/1226                   Painting:  18" H x 13" W
                                      Framed:  35" H x 22" W
                                      Price: $375.00

1227

1226

Wheel of Life

This Wheel of life is unique , in that it is held by the Morning Praying
Buddha and depicts tantric yoga persons at the bottom.

1231/1230                        Painting:  18" H x 14"  W
                                           Framed:  36" H x 24" W
                                           Price: $395.00

1231

1230

Wheel of Life

Avalokiteshvara is in the center holding the energy of endless compassion
and love.

1233/1232                    Painting: 18" H x 13" W
                                       Framed:  35.5" H x 23.5" W
                                       Price: $395.00

1233

1232

Wheel of Life: Weighted by Mara

This unique painting shows Mara weighing the wheel of life.  Mara is the god
of deception and dissolution.  Mara usually wears a tiara of skulls
representing the inevitability of death.

1235/1234                          Painting: 18" H x 13.5" W
                                             Framed: 35.5" H x 23" W
                                             Price: $425.00

1235

1234

Wheel of Life

Please refer to description of photos 1216/1215.
This is a particularly fine painting of the Wheel of Life.

1237/1236                          Painting: 22" H x 15.5" W
                                             Framed: 39.5" H x 24" W
                                             Price: $545.00

1237

1236

1481

1480

1518

1519

1520

1521

1522

1523

1524

1525

NEPALESE THANGKAS

These following Thangkas are paintings from Nepal...framed in rich textured silk brocades, each with a layer of silk that folds down to protect the paintings from the eyes of the uninitiated when not in use.  The gold paint  is the 24 K gold. 
 

Avalokiteshvara: The Vision of Selflessness

Avalokiteshvara, the most important of the bodhisattvas, leads us to realize that everything that has happened in our lives, whether directly or indirectly, is the result of our aspirations.  We create our own reality.  At the heart of selfless compassion is the vision of the inseparability of all existence: The world reflects our level of consciousness.

This painting is one of the rare ones stained with the juices of tea leaves.
1239/1238                    Painting: 22.5" H x 16" W
                                        Framed: 44" H x 31" W
                                        Price: $495.00

1239

1238

Chakra Yoga Man

This a rare and fine painting  showing the Vortices of Energy.   These chakra  points are the anatomy of the divine energy within the human body.  Once the chakras are opened through meditation and awareness, we can receive  the energy of enlightenment.

1247/1246                          Painting: 21" Hx 12.5" W
                                             Framed: 40" H x 28" W
                                             Price:  $425.00

1247

1246

Tantric Yoga Medicine Man: 18th Cy.

Drawn form the Hindu Tantric tradition, this painting depicts the symbolic forces of the chakras that , in their  untransformed state, confine us to a life of instinct.  Once awakened, these same potent energies are vehicles for attaining our innermost potential.

1258/1257                        Painting: 21" H x 8" W
                                            Framed: 36" H x 21" W
                                            Price: $ 120.00

1258

1257

1260/1259                        Painting: 26" H x 9" W
                                           Framed: 40.5" H x 24"  W
                                           Price: $158.00

1260

1259

Wheel of Life
Please refer to description of photos1216/1215.
This is a particularly unusual painting of the wheel of life...striking in its black and 24K gold.

1261a/1261                           Painting: 15.5"H x 12" W
                                               Framed: 31" H x 26"W
                                               Price:$295.00

1261a

1261

Chintamani Mahakala: The Jewel of Abundance

When you  seek prosperity for all humanity the realm of Chintamani Mahakala opens before you, offering an abundance of wish-granting jewels.  When you seek wealth only for yourself, you compete against all other human beings.  The secret lies in letting go...

1302/1292                        Painting: 13.5" x 20"
                                           Framed: 30.5" x 39"
                                           Price:  $325.00

1302

1292

1534

1535

1536