In the fourteenth century, China was ruled by the Mongol Yuan dynasty, established by Khubilai Khan (1215–1294), grandson of Genghis Khan (1162–1227). The Mongol rulers were adherents of Tibetan Buddhism, and they were also lavish patrons of luxury arts, including sumptuous woven silk textiles. This is an example of the fanciest type of textile, kesi, in which each colored thread is woven individually to form an image. The central focal point is the fierce deity Vajrabhairava, the buffalo-headed, blue-skinned conqueror of death, a focus of devotion for the Yuan emperors. At the bottom are portraits of the patrons, from left to right: Tugh Temür, the great-grandson of Khubilai Khan, who briefly served as emperor of the Yuan dynasty, his older brother, and their wives.
Inscription: At the base are seven protective deities that appear to be various color coded manifestations of Yamantaka. At either side are pairs of donors identified by name in Tibetan. These woven inscriptions can be seen above and to the right of each figure. Below each inscription there is a vertical silk panel with traces of in-painted with floral scroll patterns. Presumably each of these panels originally contained inscriptions naming the donors. The inscriptions read as follows:
Bottom left corner: 1. "rGyal po Thug the mur" (King Tugh Temur) 2. "Gyal bu Ko shi la" (Prince Qoshila)
Bottom right corner: 3. "dPon mo 'Bha bu cha" (the lady Bhabucha) 4. "dPon mo bHu dha shri" (the lady Bhudhashri)
Bhudhashri was the wife of Tugh Temur and Bhabucha was most probably the wife of Qoshila, Tugh Temur's brother.
[ Francesca Galloway Ltd. , London, until 1992; sold to MMA]
Cleveland Museum of Art. "When Silk Was Gold," October 20, 1997–January 4, 1998.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "When Silk Was Gold," March 3, 1998–May 17, 1998.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Defining Yongle, Imperial Art in Early Fifteenth-Century China," April 1–July 10, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty," September 28, 2010–January 2, 2011.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Another World Lies Beyond: Chinese Art and the Divine," August 24, 2019–January 5, 2020.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Mandalas: Mapping the Buddhist Art of Tibet," September 16, 2024–January 12, 2025.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Recent Acquisitions: A Selection 1991–1992. n.s., Vol. 50, no. 2 (fall 1992), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 84–85.
"Textiles in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 53, no. 3, Winter 1995–96. p. 76.
Watt, James C. Y. "Textiles of the Mongol Period in China." Orientation 29, no. 3 (March 1998). p. 79, fig. 12.
Kossak, Steven M. "Chronological Clues: Change in Sartorial and Pictorial Styles in Late 13th–Early 15th Century Central Tibetan Painting." Oriental Art 46, no. 4 (2000). p. 17, fig. 12.
Kossak, Steven M. "Chronological Clues II: Textile Patterns in Late 11th–14th Century Thangkas of Tibetan Hierarchs." Oriental Art 44, no. 4 (2000). p. 23, fig. 9.
Vollmer, John E. Ruling from the Dragon Throne: Costume of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) Berkeley, Calif.: Ten Speed Press, 2002, p. 44, fig. 2.17.
Watt, James C. Y., and Denise Patry Leidy. Defining Yongle: Imperial Art in Early Fifteenth-Century China. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005, pp. 63–65, pl. 23.
Kossak, Steven M. Painted Images of Enlightenment: Early Tibetan Thankas, 1050–1450. Mumbai: Marg Publications, 2010, pp. 125; 143; 16, figs. 79, 93, 110.
Hearn, Maxwell K. "Asian Art at the Metropolitan Museum." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 73, no. 1 (Summer 2015) pp. 40–41, fig. 56.
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