A THANGKA OF A NYINGMA REFUGE FIELD TIBET, 19TH CENTURY Distemper and gold on cloth; verso inscribed with a Tibetan 'om, ah, hum' incantation in red ink behind the primary figure. Himalayan Art Resources item no. 8839 27 1/4 x 20 1/8 in. (69.2 x 51.1 cm) Footnotes: 十九世紀 西藏 寧瑪派皈依境唐卡 Provenance Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Mackiernan, Sr., Canton, Massachusetts, received as a gift from H. H. 14th Dalai Lama in 1950 Thence by descent to the present owner The present thangka was given in condolence by H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama to the parents of  Douglas Mackiernan, Jr.-the first Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer to be killed in the line of duty. Mackiernan died when Tibetan guards mistakenly took his party for members of a hostile group. For detailed accounts of the incident, see Thomas Laird, Into Tibet: The CIA's First Atomic Spy and His Secret Expedition to Lhasa, 2002 and Ted Gup, The Book of Honor: The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives, 2001. A Refuge Field (sometimes called a Field of Accumulation) is a devotional composition in which all the key teachers, lineage holders, and deities of a particular Buddhist tradition are gathered together in a single image. Each tradition has its own established arrangement, drawn from liturgical sources, while the final form also reflects the interpretation, training, and creativity of the artist. This thangka depicts the refuge field of the Nyingma Longchen Nyingtig tradition. Padmasambhava and his consort occupy the center of the composition. Above them sit the lineage masters, while Amitabha Buddha appears in his Pure Land in the upper left and Shadakshari Lokeshvara in his Pure Land in the upper right. To the immediate left of Padmasambhava are the tradition's transcendent followers, the bodhisattvas, and to the right are the Shravaka disciples. Below, in front of the central figures, are the Buddhas, surrounded by meditational and protective deities. Additional protectors are depicted along the bottom register of the painting. Closely related examples are held in the British Museum, London (HAR 35609), the Hahn Cultural Foundation, Seoul (HAR 93714), and the Museum der Kulteren, Basel (HAR 3314598). For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing