A Tibetan Thangka of Maitreya Buddha

late 19th century or early 20th century, distemper on cloth, the Buddha Maitreya is depicted in the center seated in dhyanasana on a lotus base, one hand held in abhayamudra and the other holding a stupa shaped vessel, a green halo behind his head and larger blue and red auerole with golden beams radiating outwards, surrounded by a lush garden with deer, swangs, and a full offering bowl, three lamas are featured floating above directly above Maitreya surrounded by clouds, presented loose.
13 x 9 1/4 in.
Schuyler Van Rensselaer Cammann was an American scholar renowned for his contributions to the field of art and archaeology of Asia, particularly Southeast Asian and Chinese art. He began his distinguished career at Yale University, where upon graduation he spent two years living in Changsha teaching English and European History. He traveled extensively at this time and developed a great interest and appreciation for Tibetan art. He returned to America to attend graduate school at Harvard, but before proceeding to his PhD, World War II broke out and Dr. Cammann returned to China to serve as a US naval officer. After the war, he completed his doctorate at John Hopkins and then went on to teach for many years at the University of Pennsylvania. He continued to conduct fieldwork expeditions to Asia. Over the length of his career, he received many notable awards and recognition for his scholarly contributions to the field of Asian art and archeology.

From the Collection of the late Dr. Schuyler Van Rensselaer Cammann (1912-1991), Esteemed Professor Emeritus in the Department of Oriental Studies, University of Pennsylvania
Additional high-resolution photos are available at www.lelandlittle.com

Some dirt and darkening to pigments; some loss to colors to upper right corner and to right side of center; some scattered staining; some scattered losses, almost all of the brocade border has been lost, only a small bit remains to lower left corner.