Mark Rasmussen
International Director
Lot 623
A SILVER AND COPPER INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF DRAKPA GYALTSEN TSANG, CENTRAL TIBET, 15TH CENTURY
Amended
23 September 2020, 15:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$106,325 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
A SILVER AND COPPER INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF DRAKPA GYALTSEN
TSANG, CENTRAL TIBET, 15TH CENTURY
With two Tibetan inscriptions: the first on top of the lotus base, translated: "Homage to the scholar Drakpa Gyaltsen;" the second along the bottom rim of the base (translation below).
Himalayan Art Resources item no.68488
8 3/8 in. (21.4 cm) high
With two Tibetan inscriptions: the first on top of the lotus base, translated: "Homage to the scholar Drakpa Gyaltsen;" the second along the bottom rim of the base (translation below).
Himalayan Art Resources item no.68488
8 3/8 in. (21.4 cm) high
Footnotes
藏中 十五世紀 錯銀錯紅銅札巴堅贊銅像
Created with a lustrous brassy alloy and embellished with delicate patterns, this sculpture of Drakpa Gyaltsen (1147–1216) is among the finest portraits at this scale from the region of Tsang in Central Tibet. It is accompanied by a beautifully composed inscription along its foot rim, translated as follows:
"We constantly pay homage and pray to Drakpa Gyaltsen, whose learning in all classes of tantras embraces all directions, and whose love sustains all living beings."
Drakpa Gyaltsen, the 'throne-holder' of Sakya monastery for 43 years, was a revered teacher and scholar of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was the son of its founder, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092–1158), who taught him from a young age. Instrumental to the lamdre teaching's preservation, Drakpa Gyaltsen converted them from an oral tradition to a written one, recording his father's commentaries, and extensively writing his own. The lamdre teachings are a potent tantric practice at the doctrinal core of the Sakya with the potential to bring about enlightenment in a single lifetime. Drakpa Gyaltsen had many prominent students, including the famous Sakya Pandita (1182–1251), who is immortalized in a closely related bronze portrait bronze in the Van Hoogstraten Collection (Pal, Tibet: Tradition and Change, Albuquerque, 1997, pp.48-9, pl.24).
This portrait of Drakpa Gyaltsen has been cast and finished with consummate technical skill. The monastic robes are confidently displayed with naturalistic folds and chased hems of geometric and floral designs, suggestive of luxurious fabrics. The lozenges covering his chest appear throughout a dispersed Sakya lineage set, of which 18 are at Ngor Monastery (von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol. II, Hong Kong, 2003, pp.1208-17, nos.331-335E). The treatment of their lotus bases is also very similar, indicating the present bronze is likely from the same workshop and period. Unlike the Ngor set, which portrays Drakpa Gyeltsen at an old age (ibid., pp.1214-5, no.334C), here he appears to be in his prime with the determined expression of a savant.
Published
David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, pl.39, pp.170-1.
F. Ricca, Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell' Himalaya, Turin, 2004, fig.IV.46.
Exhibited
The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 6 October – 30 December 1999.
Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell' Himalaya, Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin, June – September 2004.
Stable as a Mountain: Gurus in Himalayan Art, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 13 March – 13 July 2009.
Casting the Divine: Sculptures of the Nyingjei Lam Collection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2 March 2012 – 11 February 2013.
Provenance
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
Saleroom notices
Please note the identity of the historic figure portrayed by this sculpture in the catalog is incorrect. The correct identity is Guge Panchen Drakpa Gyaltsen (d.1486). For more information see Himalayan Art Resources item no.68488.