Mark Rasmussen
International Director
Lot 603
A SILVER AND COPPER INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF SONAM TSEMO TIBET, 15TH CENTURY
23 September 2020, 15:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$25,075 inc. premium
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A SILVER AND COPPER INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF SONAM TSEMO
TIBET, 15TH CENTURY
A Tibetan inscription along the bottom rim of the lotus base, translated: "Om svasti! This statue of Lobpon Rinpoche [Sonam Tsemo], for parents mainly, and all sentient beings, was created by the family in order to obtain Buddhahood. May the results of cause and effect be realized. Mangalam!"
Himalayan Art Resources item no.68307
5 1/2 in. (14 cm) high
A Tibetan inscription along the bottom rim of the lotus base, translated: "Om svasti! This statue of Lobpon Rinpoche [Sonam Tsemo], for parents mainly, and all sentient beings, was created by the family in order to obtain Buddhahood. May the results of cause and effect be realized. Mangalam!"
Himalayan Art Resources item no.68307
5 1/2 in. (14 cm) high
Footnotes
西藏 十五世紀 錯銀錯紅銅索南孜摩銅像
Sonam Tsemo (1142-82) was the son of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo and the second of The Five Founding Fathers of the Sakya order (Sakya Jetsun Gongma Nga). He was the fourth to hold the office of Sakya Trizin ('Throneholder'). Following his father's death, Tsemo's education at Kadam monasteries helped inform the monastic structure adopted by the Sakya school.
Sonam Tsemo is commonly depicted wearing the thick outer cloak of a layman, with bunching folds around his biceps as he raises his hands to forward the Dharma. Compare his physiognomy, especially the treatment of his hair, to another portrait of this master within a Sakya lineage set at Ngor Monastery published in von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol.II, Hong Kong, 2003, p.1213, no.333E. Also see Bonhams, New York, 14 March 2017, lot 3260.
Exhibited
The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 6 October – 30 December 1999.
What Is It? Himalayan Art, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 27 October 2005 – 14 June 2010.
Casting the Divine: Sculptures of the Nyingjei Lam Collection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2 March 2012 – 11 February 2013.
Provenance
Sotheby's, New York, 18 December 1981, lot 213
The Nyingjei Lam Collection
On loan to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1996 – 2005
On loan to the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2005 – 2019