292 - Attributed to Khazi Lhazo (Tibet, 18th–19th century)

Attributed to Khazi Lhazo (Tibet, 18th–19th century) Thangka depicting the wrathful Palden Lhamo Tempera on canvas 77 x 50 cm The condition report is available upon request at the following email address: contact@neo-encheres.com PROVENANCE From the same provenance as the thangka featured in our January 30, 2025, auction, depicting the mahasiddhas Kukuripa and Nagpo Dorje, Panchen Sangye Yeshe invoking Vajrasattva, as well as Chilbu in yabyum with a dakini and Nalanda. Also from the same provenance as the thangka featured in our September 25, 2025, auction, depicting various deities. Description: A portable painting intended for both meditation and ritual, the thangka is one of the major mediums of Tibetan Buddhist art. The Himalayan Art Resources catalogs distinguish several major pictorial traditions: the Menri, which emerged in the mid-15th century with Mantangpa (Menla Döndrub); the Khyenri, associated with Khyentse Chenmo, whose murals at Gongkar Chöde (1464–1476) are the only surviving works by his hand; the Karma Gardri, associated from the 16th century onward with Namkha Tashi, and later with the styles of the 10th Karmapa, Chöying Dorje, and Situ Panchen Chökyi Jungné; and finally, the New Menri of Chöying Gyatso in the 17th century. Palden Lhamo, or Shri Devi, is the most important of the female protectors in Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, guardian of Lhasa and the Dalai Lamas. Among the twenty or so forms described, three dominate the iconography: Dudsolma, with four arms, in the Sakya, Kagyu, and Nyingma traditions; Magzor Gyalmo, with two arms and riding a mule, among the Gelugpa; and Dorje Rabtenma, protector of Shalu Monastery. Khazi Lhazo, “the painter from the village of Khazi” in the Chamdo region of eastern Tibet, was active from the late 18th to the mid-19th century. He accompanied Tatsag Rinpoche Yeshe Tenpai Gönpo (1760–1810) to Beijing, to the Yonghegong Temple, and then to Lhasa, before settling near Dragyab Monastery. The body of work attributed to him includes depictions of protectors such as Shri Devi and Mahakala, mahasiddhas, arhats, and Taras.