Expert's note: Both the complexity and fine detail of this work are stunning, to say the least. The supreme levels of artistic skill and mastery of the brush displayed in this painting indicates an Imperial connection. It was most likely a present intended for high-ranked Tibetan monks in residence at the forbidden city during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.

Distemper and gold on silk, mounted on a silk brocade frame. The bodhisattva with eleven heads and a thousand arms, the first pair of hands are at the heart with palms folded, the second right holds a rosary, the third eliminates the hunger and thirst of pretas, and the fourth holds a wheel, the second left holds a lotus, the third a waterpot, and the fourth a bow and arrow, the other radiating 992 hands are boon-granting. A deerskin covers his left breast and the lower part of his body is covered with fine silks, a green scarf draped over his shoulder as it swirls down his arms falling to the lotiform base.

Provenance: Los Angeles trade.
Condition: Good condition with wear, minor creasing, and soiling.

Dimensions: Image size 85.5 x 66 cm, Size incl. frame 113.8 x 77 cm

The central figure is protected by two attendant bodhisattvas—Manjushri to the bottom left and Vajrapani in wrathful form to the bottom right, all in a verdant landscape.

The red topmost head of the deity represents Buddha Amitabha, the bodhisattva's spiritual progenitor. The ten heads beneath symbolize the steps on the path to Buddhist enlightenment, and the principal hands held before the heart symbolically protect the ratna (jewel) of this enlightened state. This form is one of the most popular manifestations of the bodhisattva in Tibetan Buddhism, the faith that was espoused by the Qianlong emperor. Paintings such as this hung in imperial palace temples, often with lacquered wood frames in place of the Tibetan style mounts that are traditionally made up of strips and panels of multi-colored textiles.

Literature comparison:
Compare with an example in the National Palace Museum, Beijing with similar treatments of the floral forms and the overall composition, published in Gu gong bo wu yuan cang wen wu zhen pin quan ji; 59: Zang chuan fo jiao tang ka, Hong Kong, 2003, p. 134, no. 123. Compare also a closely related imperial thangka of Ekadashamukha Avalokitesvara, dated 1765, at Sotheby's Paris, 18 December 2012, lot 29.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 17 September 2014, lot 43
Price: USD 37,500 or approx. EUR 45,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A thangka of Avalokiteshvara Sahasrabhuja, Tibet, 18th century
Expert remark: Note the much smaller size (63 x 40 cm).