Featured Tibet Bronze Thankga - No idea on age!

Discussion in 'Antique Discussion' started by YASHINI D/O RENGANATHAN, May 16, 2018.

  1. YASHINI D/O RENGANATHAN

    YASHINI D/O RENGANATHAN Contemporary Visual Artist, Female

    Tibet Bronze Thankga - It is quite a beautiful piece (one of my personal favorites) Not able to find age or anything.

    Any extra info will be much appreciated! Thank you

    Material: Assuming its bronze
    Length: 37 inches
    Breadth: 29 inches




    Tibet Frame.jpg Tibet Frame2 copy.jpg
     
  2. Hollyblue

    Hollyblue Well-Known Member

    Is the back open to view?
     
  3. YASHINI D/O RENGANATHAN

    YASHINI D/O RENGANATHAN Contemporary Visual Artist, Female

    Good question. Shall ask my dad to take it down when he is back and keep you posted.
     
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  4. YASHINI D/O RENGANATHAN

    YASHINI D/O RENGANATHAN Contemporary Visual Artist, Female

    @Hollyblue I manage to get my hand through to the back. It feels flat and wood like. I guess it is covered with a wood backing.
     
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  5. YASHINI D/O RENGANATHAN

    YASHINI D/O RENGANATHAN Contemporary Visual Artist, Female

    pretty sure if the backing is removed, the back will appear to have various hollowed spaces due to the rises in front.
     
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  6. Huntingtreasure

    Huntingtreasure Well-Known Member

  7. YASHINI D/O RENGANATHAN

    YASHINI D/O RENGANATHAN Contemporary Visual Artist, Female

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  8. Huntingtreasure

    Huntingtreasure Well-Known Member

    Ok, I’m sure the others with more knowledge about these things will be able to figure it out for you.
     
  9. YASHINI D/O RENGANATHAN

    YASHINI D/O RENGANATHAN Contemporary Visual Artist, Female

    Hopefully! Thank you though, appreciate it.. I guess we are in the same boat!
     
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  10. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    It is an attractive placque, but it is not a thangka and not Tibetan.
    It is Sino-Tibetan in style, made in China, probably fairly recently. Whatever the material, it has been deliberately antiqued. I suspect it has many siblings.
    When a Chinese listing says it was "created by skilled craftsmen in traditional style with fine handcrafts", it means it is newly made.

    A thangka is a scroll painting, so it can be rolled up. Here is one of mine, this one is of the same Boddhisattva (Buddha aspect) as on your placque, this Boddhisattva is called Vajrasattva:
    upload_2018-5-16_17-10-30.jpeg
    My apologies for the very bad quality of the picture, it hangs in a dark corner of my study. But you can see (rather vaguely) it is painted on fabric and framed in green satin brocade. The yellow satin of the top part comes down like a curtain to cover the thangka when necessary. A wooden rod goes through the top of the brocade, so the thangka can be rolled up.
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2018
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  11. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    Temporarily moved him to a better spot, here is a detail, the Vajrasattva himself. As you can see, he is more elegant than the Chinese one, which is more rigid and has a broader face:
    upload_2018-5-16_17-27-14.jpeg
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2018
  12. YASHINI D/O RENGANATHAN

    YASHINI D/O RENGANATHAN Contemporary Visual Artist, Female

    Apologies for the late reply, I must have missed this one. What you have there is very beautiful!! Lovely, how much did you get it for and how old is it?
     
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  13. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    I bought it in the 1970s from a wonderful lady who had lived in Sikkim while it was still independent from India. She had a small shop selling Himalayan art.
    This thangka was fairly new at the time, painted by a Tibetan refugee in Nepal. The backing fabric, which you can't see on the photos, is a traditional Nepali fabric, which I like because it illustrates the story of this thangka. It can't have been expensive because I was a student at the time.
    You can still buy thangkas like this one, but I have no idea of the current prices.
     
  14. AuDragon

    AuDragon Well-Known Member

    Any Jewellery,
    You have clearly had an amazing life and I really appreciate the information and wisdom you bring to this forum. Thanks.
     
  15. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    Easy......I don't think she's quite finished yet !! :p:hilarious::hilarious:
     
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  16. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    Thank you, AuDragon.
    Sadly I can't do any traveling now, but looking back I have done a lot in a short period of time. It was the foundation of things I can research further now that I am an armchair traveler.;)
    I hope not.:) Such a wonderful world, so much to learn. The comfy armchair has proven to be a great means of transportation.:D
     
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  17. AuDragon

    AuDragon Well-Known Member

    And with the quality of the world's communication and information sharing, armchair travelling has a wonderful immediacy. I can be searching in Egypt for the last discovery, flash across to Angkor Wat to see the latest "guardian statue" then to a museum and finally a new item listed here to challenge and inspire.
     
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