Tibet. Distemper and gold on cloth. Standing atop a cushion resting on lotus flowers rising from a blue lake with cranes and ducks in a mountainous landscape, richly adorned with beaded jewelry and voluminous robes, holding a wish-fulfilling jewel in his principal hands while five others hold a lotus, rosary, dharmachakra, bow and arrow, and a vase.

Provenance: From a European private collection, assembled in the 1960s and 1970s.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, creasing, soiling, few minuscule losses. The textile mounting further with small tears, considerable soiling in some areas, few loose threads, and minor losses.

Dimensions: Size incl. mounting 131 x 68 cm, Image size 60.7 x 39.4 cm

Avalokiteshvara is surrounded by ruyi-shaped clouds, the upper corners with the red-skinned Buddha Amitabha as well as Buddha Shakyamuni showing the bhumisparsa mudra, the lower area with four ungulates flanked by two lotus-bearing forms of Avalokiteshvara. The thangka is mounted with a silk brocade frame, showing finely stitched roundels with flowers and Buddhist symbols as well as crashing waves and lishui stripe.

Stretching in a great arc around the figure are a thousand arms, each hand bearing an eye to symbolize his unhindered capacity to see. This compelling form of the most widely-revered bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, known as Chenrezig in Tibet, embodies unbounded compassion as an all-seeing and all-reaching deity seeking to assist every sentient being in attaining nirvana. Eleven heads can be interpreted as corresponding to the eleven points of a mandala (its center, four cardinal points, four intermediate points, the nadir, and the zenith). They are arranged in five registers. The lowest register displays peaceful countenances and the next three registers present wrathful forms. Amitabha Buddha is the pinnacle. Each head represents an aspect of the compassionate deity, reflecting Avalokiteshvara’s ability to meet benign and ferocious powers with comparable strength.

Auction result comparison: Compare a related but larger Tibetan thangka depicting the Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara, dated to the 19^th century, at Christie’s New York in Indian and Southeast Asian Art on 19 September 2002, lot 145, sold for USD 11,950. Compare also a related Tibetan thangka of Avalokiteshvara Sahasrabhuja, dated to the 18^th century, at Bonhams New York in Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art on 17 September 2014, lot 43, sold for USD 37,500.

十八至十九世紀千手觀音唐卡
西藏。布面膠彩。蓮花從碧湖升起，山間祥雲仙鶴，觀音上身肩搭帔帛，帔帛繞兩臂而下，流暢圓轉。正面雙手合十，右邊三手分別持念珠、法輪、施無畏印；左邊三手執蓮花、弓箭、淨水瓶。下身著長裙，以立姿站於被蓮莖托起的蓮花之上。

來源：歐洲私人收藏，購於1960-1970年代。
品相：狀況極好，有輕微的磨損、摺痕、污跡，少量微小的缺損。裝幀小撕裂，某些區域髒污嚴重，線鬆動，小缺損。

尺寸：縂131 x 68 厘米，畫面60.7 x 39.4 厘米

拍賣結果比較：比較一件十九世紀西藏大型千手觀音唐卡見紐約佳士得Indian and Southeast Asian Art 2002年9月19日 lot 145, 售價USD 11,950 ；一件十八世紀西藏千手觀音唐卡見紐約邦翰思Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art 2014年9月17日 lot 43, 售價USD 37,500。