Placeholder
EntryBuddha Thangka
Shakyamuni Buddha
The Awakened One
- 26 × 34 cm (10.2 × 13.4 in)
- Hand-ground mineral pigment · Cotton ground · 24K gold highlights
- Painted to order · 21 days
$4,200
Series I · Foundation
Avalokiteshvara
Ocean of Compassion
Whole work, border to border
$6,400
Includes insured worldwide shipping and duties preparation. No tax is added at checkout.
1
Painted to order · Unique work
- Deity
- Avalokiteshvara
- Dimensions
- 34 × 46 cm (13.4 × 18.1 in)
- Medium
- 24K gold leaf, Lapis lazuli, Silk brocade mount
- Edition
- Unique work
- Lead time
- 42 days to dispatch
- Series
- Series I · Foundation
- Origin
- Hand-painted in the Kathmandu Valley
Certificate of Authenticity
Every work ships with a signed dossier recording deity, lineage, pigments, gold weight and the painter of record.
Provenance Dossier
Studio of origin, date of completion, consecration lineage and, where applicable, exhibition and publication history.
Worldwide Insured Shipping
Museum-grade packing, fully insured door-to-door, with customs documentation prepared on your behalf.
Private Returns Window
Live with the work for 14 days. If it is not right, return it for a full refund.
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The Work
Avalokiteshvara, in detail
Ocean of Compassion
Avalokiteshvara is painted on cotton prepared in the traditional way: sized, burnished with a smooth stone, and sealed before a single line is drawn. The composition is laid out on a measured grid, so that every figure, throne and lotus sits where the iconographic canon places it rather than where it looks balanced. Deviating from that grid is not a stylistic choice.
Colour is ground mineral — 24k gold leaf, lapis lazuli, silk brocade mount — worked into a hide-glue binder and applied in flat passages, then modelled in fine layers. This is why the palette does not fade under daylight the way a synthetic pigment does, and why the surface reads as depth rather than as paint when the light moves across it.
Gilding happens last, once the ground is fully cured. Gold is applied as leaf and burnished with agate to bring its brightness up, and it is never retouched afterwards: a single pass, so the light falls evenly across every gilded surface of the work. On a piece of 34 × 46 cm (13.4 × 18.1 in) that stage alone takes days.
Pigment
Malachite, lapis lazuli, cinnabar and orpiment, hand-ground and bound in animal hide glue.
Gold
24-karat leaf, laid by hand and burnished with agate. Never gold-coloured paint.
Ground
Prepared cotton, sized and stone-burnished. Supplied unmounted or on brocade.
Before you buy
Five questions worth answering
- How long does Avalokiteshvara take to paint?
- Around 42 days from the day the commission is confirmed. Preparatory drawing, pigment grinding, the painting itself and the final gilding are separate stages, and gilding cannot be hurried — the gold is laid last and burnished with agate once the ground is fully cured.
- What are the exact dimensions of Avalokiteshvara?
- The painted surface measures 34 × 46 cm (13.4 × 18.1 in). It is painted on prepared cotton and supplied unmounted, so it can be framed to your own specification. If you would like it mounted on brocade in the traditional manner, say so in your enquiry and we will quote for it.
- Is the gold real?
- Yes. The gilding is 24-karat gold applied by hand as leaf and burnished. Nothing on Avalokiteshvara is gold-coloured paint, and the pigment is ground mineral — malachite, lapis lazuli, cinnabar and orpiment — bound in animal hide glue rather than modern acrylic.
- What comes with the work?
- Every acquisition ships with a signed certificate of authenticity and a provenance dossier recording the deity, the painter of record, the pigments and gold used, the studio of origin and the date of completion. Insured worldwide shipping is included.
- Can Avalokiteshvara be consecrated before it ships?
- Yes, on request, and it happens before the work is packed. We arrange a qualified lama or practitioner according to the type of thangka, and the dossier records who performed the ceremony and in which lineage. Ask in your enquiry or when you confirm the commission — nothing is assumed on your behalf.
Still unresolved? A named specialist answers every enquiry — write to the studio.
Series I
All 12 worksMore from Foundation
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EntryBuddha Thangka
Green Tara
Swift Compassion
- 30 × 40 cm (11.8 × 15.7 in)
- Malachite green · Lapis lazuli · Cotton ground
- Painted to order · 28 days
$4,800
Placeholder
EntryBuddha Thangka
Medicine Buddha
Healing Light
- 30 × 40 cm (11.8 × 15.7 in)
- Lapis lazuli · Cinnabar · Cotton ground
- Painted to order · 28 days
$5,200
Commission
This work can be painted to your measurements
Size, palette and consecration lineage are all specified at commission. Tell us about the space and we will return a brief with a painter, a timeline and a fixed price.