A COPPER INLAID COPPER ALLOY PORTRAIT OF A KAGYU LAMA

TIBET, CIRCA 13TH CENTURY

Footnotes

Almost as wide as he is tall, the lama is cast with an extraordinary sense of volume and presence. He is afforded a short crop of hair and a content, yet weathered face. His heavy robes envelope a stout frame and fall in rounded pleats dissolving into the lotus platform. Like his mouth and fingernails, the robe's hemlines are subtly highlighted with inlaid copper flanking recessed incised floral designs.

With an idiosyncratic portrait this charming bronze honors an historic lama of the early Kagyupa order associated with the Drigung, Taklung, and Densatil monasteries (founded 1179, c.1180 & 1208, respectively). Referencing Shakyamuni's defeat of Mara at Bodhgaya, the lama's hand gestures towards the ground in the earthtouching mudra. Compare with a smaller yet similar Pakdru Kagyu lama, identified by inscription as Drangkarpa(?), that shares the same squared lotus platform and arrangement of robes published in Dinwiddie (ed.), Portraits of the Masters, London, 2003, pp.188-9, no.44.

Provenance
Nyingjei Lam Collection


錯紅銅噶舉喇嘛銅像
西藏，約十三世紀
喜馬拉雅藝術資源網2154號
23.7 x 22 釐米（9 x 8英寸）

1,200,000-1,800,000 港元

此尊喇嘛像身寬與像高幾乎等同，體量敦碩，法相莊嚴。其短髮平整，面容和善卻飽歷風霜。沉重的僧袍給造像以有力輪廓，下方圓潤的衣褶與蓮花座融為一體。嘴唇、指甲與衣緣皆錯以紅銅，衣緣更有凹刻花飾，精美細致。

此像造型獨特而迷人，是為禮敬一位噶舉派早期喇嘛而鑄。這位喇嘛與直貢梯寺、達隆寺、丹薩替寺（分別創建於1179、約1180與1208年）都關係密切。喇嘛掌心向下結觸地印，引用了釋迦牟尼在菩提伽耶降服魔羅的典故。一個近似而較小的帕竹噶舉喇嘛可與之相比，銘文所示其為Drangkarpa（？），兩者有相同的方形蓮座及袈裟樣式，參閱Dinwiddie（編），Portraits of the Masters，倫敦，2003年，頁188-9，44號。

來源
菩薩道收藏



SELECTED WORKS FROM THE NYINGJEI LAM COLLECTION

The Nyingjei Lam Collection was formed in the 1970s and 1980s by a passionate collector based in the Far East for almost fifty years. The quality of the collection is unparalleled in diversity and rarity of sculpture, spanning a millennium, and is considered one of the gold standards in the field of collecting Himalayan Art. "Nyingjei Lam" translates to "Paths of Compassion". Bonhams is honored to be presenting the select works, supporting the Nyingjei Lam Trust's mission of education and social projects in India and other regions around the globe.


菩薩道藏品精選

菩薩道收藏由一位在遠東生活的藏家於上世紀七八十年代成立，至今已快半個世紀。其造像收藏論類別之多元、價值之珍貴稀有，均無與倫比；同時造像年代橫跨千年，堪稱喜馬拉雅藝術收藏界之翹楚。"菩薩道" 由藏文翻譯而來，其羅馬拼音為"NYINGJEI LAM"。邦瀚斯很榮幸能向大家呈獻菩薩道精選藏品，以支持菩薩道信托基金在印度及全球其他地區推行之教育及社會項目。