Unknown
Cabinet (Yangam) for Wealth Vases18th-19th century

On view:

Geffen Galleries, Pan-Asian Buddhist Art

Painted wooden cabinet with vermillion-red ground, gilt floral and medallion decoration, and black vase motifs on front panels and side

Painted wooden cabinet with red ground and gold decoration, featuring two central doors with a large circular medallion of flowering plants in black and gold. Side panels display black vases with Chinese characters holding flowering branches. Scrolling vine borders frame all surfaces, with wear revealing aged paintwork throughout.

Painted wooden cabinet with four doors, red ground decorated with gold and black motifs including floral arrangements in vases, scrolling foliage, and a large central medallion with Chinese characters on the door panels.

Lacquered cabinet doors in red and black with gilt decoration; a central medallion on the two-panel doors features gold chrysanthemums and foliage surrounding Chinese characters, flanked by scrolling cloud patterns and auspicious motifs on the red ground, with small metal ring pulls at center.

Painted wooden cabinet with a central panel featuring bold red foliate and rose motifs on an olive green ground, framed by red borders with gilt geometric and scrollwork decoration on legs and edges; worn painted surface.

Painted wooden cabinet or altar table, rear view, with a large central panel decorated in red floral and foliage motifs on an olive green ground, framed by red borders with gilt geometric and scrollwork ornament, showing wear and paint loss.

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Cabinet (Yangam) for Wealth Vases
Place Made: Central Tibet, Tsang Province, Shigatse (?)
Date Made: 18th-19th century
Medium: Wood with mineral pigments, gold leaf, and gesso; brass fittings
Dimensions: 26 5/8 x 40 3/8 x 17 3/4 in. (67.63 x 102.55 x 44.45 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Ruth Sutherlin Hayward and Robert W. Hayward for the Success of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, Bylakuppe, India and the Continued Teachings of the Panchen Lama Tradition
Accession Number: M.2006.156.2
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: The cabinet’s palette of gold designs against vermilion and black backgrounds represents a luxurious expression in furniture of the red-field and black-field (gser thang) genres of Tibetan painting (see M.83.253, AC1993.190.1 and M.86.292.1-.183). Here, gold leaf is used in place of gold paint to create the composition.

Yangam cabinets are used to house Wealth Vases (yangbum) filled with precious metals, gems, and other auspicious substances. The vases are used in annual ceremonies performed to increase one’s wealth or good fortune. The exterior of the cabinet is adorned on the front left and right panels with symbolic depictions of two black Wealth Vases set in landscapes. They hold golden flowers and are inscribed with the Chinese shou character for longevity. In the center on the cabinet doors is a black lobed roundel with the Chinese character for prosperity and other auspicious symbols. It is surrounded by the Buddhist Eight Auspicious Symbols and the Chinese character for double happiness in gold on either side. Scrolling foliage fills the four spandrels. The exterior ends of the cabinet are each painted with a red flowering plant with a precious jewel on a green ground, The interior of the cabinet is embellished with an eight-spoked wheel, skull cup bowl offerings, animals, and birds in red and gold outlines on a black ground.
Selected Bibliography: Kamansky, David, ed. Wooden Wonders: Tibetan Furniture in Secular and Religious Life. Chicago: Serindia Publications, Inc., 2004.
Dorsey,Anne Breckenridge. "Transcending Form and Functon: A New Look at Tibetan Furniture", Hong Kong,Orientations, Hong Kong, 53-60 (November/December 2004)

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