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Source Description

Tibetan <em>thangka </em>painters referred to sketchbooks with drawings that delineate the iconographies—appearance and identifying attributes—of Buddhist figures. These visual guides were heavily used; very few survive. This rare example shows signs of wear, but the steady line drawings are the work of a master.<br><br>The largest figure on the left is the guardian king of the north, Vaishravana, god of wealth, and the small figure to the right appears to be a donor in Tibetan dress. The next page to the right has Yama, the guardian king of the south, and the god of death in union with his consort on his buffalo mount. Below them is a goddess of longevity, Ushnishavijaya. At the far right is an 18-armed goddess seated in a skull cup on serpents, below which is a seated Buddha.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
152331
label
Iconographic Drawings: Vaishravana, Yama, Ushnishavijaya, Chunda (?), and Buddha (recto)
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
152331
contentType
drawing
title
Iconographic Drawings: Vaishravana, Yama, Ushnishavijaya, Chunda (?), and Buddha (recto)
description
Tibetan <em>thangka </em>painters referred to sketchbooks with drawings that delineate the iconographies—appearance and identifying attributes—of Buddhist figures. These visual guides were heavily used; very few survive. This rare example shows signs of wear, but the steady line drawings are the work of a master.<br><br>The largest figure on the left is the guardian king of the north, Vaishravana, god of wealth, and the small figure to the right appears to be a donor in Tibetan dress. The next page to the right has Yama, the guardian king of the south, and the god of death in union with his consort on his buffalo mount. Below them is a goddess of longevity, Ushnishavijaya. At the far right is an 18-armed goddess seated in a skull cup on serpents, below which is a seated Buddha.
date
c. 1500
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79936678
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 20.3 x 12.7 cm (8 x 5 in.)
cul
Tibet
accession
1985.191.a
Source extras
tec
ink and watercolor on cotton
tombstone
Iconographic Drawings: Vaishravana, Yama, Ushnishavijaya, Chunda (?), and Buddha (recto), c. 1500. Tibet. Ink and watercolor on cotton; overall: 20.3 x 12.7 cm (8 x 5 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Delia E. Holden Fund, 1985.191.a
collection
Tibetan Art
formerAccessionNumbers
1985.191
didYouKnow
The script notations are in an Indic script, but the line drawings are Tibetan.
citations
citation
Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1985.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>, vol. 73, no. 2, 1986, pp. 26–71.
page_number
Mentioned: no. 204, p. 71
creditline
Delia E. Holden Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:52:23.572000
sourceId
152331
dept
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
coll
Tibetan Art
med
ink and watercolor on cotton
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
ba3fcd1304cb58df