Korean Buddhist Temple Scroll Painting Sinjung T aenghwa Joseon Dynasty

An antique Korean folk painting of an old sage meditating among rocks under an ancient pine tree with a flying crane circa 19th century late Joseon period. The image was likely part of a larger scroll that depict of Mountain Spirit...

A Korean folk painting watercolor on linen (silk) with a cloth mat and walnut wood frame. The work is in the shamanistic style and depicts the Tao...

A Japanese silk Suijaku hanging scroll beautifully presented in a custom wood shadow box frame from Edo period (circa 18-19th century). The scroll, surmounted on golden brocade was painted in fine details with gouache, ink and gold powder highlight, served as a Suijaku mandala for the worshippers. Honji Suijaku is a complicated religious concept uniquely developed in Japan. It mixed and hybrid the Buddism deities with native shinto spirits (known as Kami), which were seen as local manifestations (the suijaku, literally means a "trace") of Buddhist deities (the honji literally the original ground). The original idea may lie with the synergetic strategy to spread Buddism by making it more relatable to the local population who had already worshiped Shinto gods. The paradigm, adopted in the 10th century from an orignal Chinese concept, remained a defining feature of Japanese religious life up to the end of the Edo period (1868). Instead of being confined to deities, its application was often extended to historical figures as shown on this scroll. This long hanging scroll depicts an arrangement of 21 figures including Buddhism and Shinto deities as well as two historical figures on the bottom. Each figure was name-tagged in Kanji for easy identification by the worshippers. It was used in the temple or shrine so that when the worshipper prayed in front the mandala, they prayed simultaneously to all the deities. On the very top, sits Nyorai-Kojin, a hybrid deity of Nyorai Buddha and Kojin, the kaki for fire, stove and kitchen. From the top to bottom and left to right, here is the list of the deities: Kanon with Thousand Hands, Kanon with Willow Branch, Monju Bosatsu...

An antique Tibetan Thangka with polychrome pigments on cloth, circa mid to late 19th century. It depicts Yamantaka, also known as Vajrabhairava, who is a wrathful manifestation of Manjusri, the bodhisattva of wisdom, and in other contexts he also functions as a dharmapala, or 'Dharma-protector'. The buffalo head deity Vajrabhairava is one of the three principal meditation deities of the Gelug School. He is shown with nine faces in the Yab Yum...

18th century Buddhist Chinese Scroll Painting. This is a temple piece and has been re-backed numerous times over its life span. The practice...

Painting on natural-colored paper, depicting many characters from the Buddhist pantheon. These images of Buddha and bodhisattvas depicted stories from Chinese Buddhist scriptures and...

A striking 19th century Tibetan thangka of the enlightened one, Buddha Nagaraja; King of Nagas (a.k.a. Buddha Nageshvara). Shown seated in the vajra position atop a lotus blossom, ha...

A rare striking 18th century Tibetan Thangka depicting the Green Tara seated on a lotus throne ready to step down to offer comfort and pro...