Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Tonpa Shenrab (Founder of Bon) - (main form)

སྟོན་པ་གཤེན་རབ། བོན་ལུགས་སྲོལ་གཏོད་པ། 敦巴辛绕传记(苯教开创人)
(item no. 100650)
Origin Location Tibet
Date Range 1600 - 1699
Lineages Bon
Material Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton
Collection Publication: A Tale of Thangkas
Notes about the Central Figure

Classification: Deity

Interpretation / Description

Shenrab Miwo - the Teacher, founder of the religion of Yungdrung Bon surrounded by 250 Enlightened Ones (Tibetan: sang gye) and belonging to the set of Four Transcendent Lords.

Iconographic Elements of the Painting: Size, Descending Order & Hierarchy:
- Tonpa Shenrab (central image)
- Two hundred & Fifty Enlightened Ones (registers)
- Wrathful One (bottom center)
- Donor figures (bottom left)

Artistic Elements of the Composition:
- Subject: figurative
- Composition Type: Registers
- Ground Colour: Multi-coloured
- Painting Style:
- Region: Dolpo, Southern Himalayas, Nepal
- Date: 17th/18th century
- Inscriptions: name inscription bottom left
- Back of Painting: mantras
- Artist: unknown at this time
- Comparables by Subject: numerous
- Comparables by Style: numerous

The inscription at the bottom left reads: homage to Kyungpo Yungdrung Gyaltsen! Homage to Kyungpo Dragpa Tsultrim! Homage to Yangton Rinchen Lhundrub!

Jeff Watt 2-2016

Front of Painting
English Translation of Inscription: Homage to Kyungpo Yungdrung Gyaltsen! Homage to Kyungpo Dragpa Tsultrim! Homage to Yangton Rinchen Lhundrub!

Wylie Transliteration of Inscription: khyung po gyung drung rgyal mtsan la na mo. kyung po grags pa khrims la na mo. yang ton rin chen lhun grub la na mo.

Related Items
Thematic Sets
Bon Deity: Four Transcendent Lords Main Page
Bon: Tonpa Shenrab (Four Transcendent Lords)
Publication: A Tale of Thangkas (Bon Group)
Publication: A Tale of Thangkas
Bon Deity: Four Transcendent Lords (Set 10)
Bon: Monasteries, Site Locations & Selected Collections
Collection: Bonhams San Francisco (Painting. June, 2018)