Tibetan Thangka

Trying to get some information about some of the asian antiques that I own. This Thangka being one of them. Just wondering if an appraisal on this piece should be considered. Looks pretty old. 19th century maybe earlier? All opinions welcomed and appreciated.

 

Though I know what a pain it can be,we need better pics. It looks lovely. Welcome.

 

Better? Could zoom in on a certain area too.

 

Welcome! Glad you found your way! Do you have macro mode that would let you show a up close shot?

I think a lot of determining possible age will be figuring out if the colors are mineral or synthetic in origin and a much better picture will be needed in the best light possible. I am completely out of my realm here and hope someone will be able to help you but I know they will need the best pictures possible to do so.

 

Welcome to the forum dc.
Very nice thangka, I'd say Chinese, possibly Cham or Amdo, the ethnic Tibetan regions in China. The wear indicates former ownership by a traveling monk, possibly visiting nomads for spiritual aid. When you're on the road, there is no opportunity to have the scroll restored every once in a while.
I agree with the others, better pics please, and detailed.

 

Thank you for the welcomes and the responses. Much appreciated. All I know about this piece is that it hung in a hallway of my grandmothers house for as long as I can remember until I received it about twenty years ago. I keep it in the darkest room in my house (for obvious reasons) but brought it out to the bright kitchen for these two close up photos. Hope this does the trick.

 

@Any Jewelry I am in suspense along with OP! Do these pictures help? (I referred OP here hoping that you would have knowledge on this subject)

I have no knowledge on this type of object but I had studied the picture wondering if it was intentionally distressed but that didn't seem right because they are traditionally rolled up for storage so it wouldn't make sense to distress fold lines in it by my way of thinking. I was fascinated with your insight about the traveling monks.

To my inexperienced eye the fade in the colors seems to indicate good honest age and I am eagerly awaiting your expert opinion!

 

Absolutely right.
I am no expert on thangkas by the way, I just collected them years ago, and still have a few.
It is an antique. I'd say ca late 18th - early 19th century, but you need someone to take a close look at it. They may need to see the fabric too, which could be a problem, since the paint is fragile.
I have one in this style, mine is framed and behind glass. It has a lot of beautiful blue, which is ground lapis lazuli. During a house move the glass broke, and there was an image of the thangka on the glass shards, especially the blue parts. I had it reframed the way it was, with the glass against the thangka to press the paint against the fabric. Not perfect, but it looks fine.
In this thread is the story of how I got that particular thangka:
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/m...-bone-help-with-age-please.16258/#post-227112

 

Thank you @Any Jewelry! If it were mine I would consider an appraisal and I hope some of OP's questions were answered.

As I was reading on old Thangkas I came across a bit of a heated debate about the bright blue color with one party saying it couldn't be old and another party offering undeniable proof through documented pieces that indeed it could. Those pieces were vivid beautiful blue and done with lapis lazuli such as yours I am sure.

dcfirebottle and yourself are fortunate to have such beautiful works of art to grace your walls!

 

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and comments.

 

Saw this Thangka recently. Pretty darn close. Maybe the same artist?

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/51314275_tibetan-thangka

 

We will never know, and with thangkas that is not relevant.
A thangka artist has to work within the limits of very strict conventions, which means many thangkas of a certain type look similar. There are differences in regional styles, but hardly any from one artist to another in the same region.
Buddhism is not about individualism and expressing ego, and if an artist's work was recognizably his, he would probably be very embarassed because he had not stuck to the rules.