A PAIR OF SILVER AND GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURES
OF THE SEVENTH KARMAPA CHODRAK GYATSO
AND THE FOURTH SHARMAPA CHOKYI DRAKPA

TIBET, LATE 15TH/16TH CENTURY

Footnotes

西藏 十五世紀末/十六世紀 銀質銅鎏金第七世大寶法王確札嘉措與第四世夏瑪巴確吉札巴像

It is extremely rare to find silver portraits of such remarkable quality surviving in pairs. It is all the more satisfying here that each figure represents one of two complementary branches of the Karma Kagyu school's leadership—made known thanks to the lasting red and black pigments on their hats. It is the Karmapa, wearing a black hat, who identifies the next incarnate Sharmapa, wearing a red hat, and the Sharmapa who identifies the next incarnate Karmapa. Seated on matching gilt-bronze lotus bases, the two hierarchs are flawlessly represented wearing chased silver garments that testify to the hand of a virtuoso.

The two teachers are identified by their inscriptions as the Seventh Karmapa Chodrak Gyatso (1454-1506), and his student, the Fourth Sharmapa Chokyi Drakpa (1453-1524). The Seventh Karmapa is remembered for being a compassionate leader and an accomplished scholar. He is said to have brokered peace among local tribes in southern Tibet. The Seventh Karmapa also established seminaries at Tsurphu monastery and Chokhor Lhumpo, and authored important exegesis, including the Lamp of the Three Worlds, a commentary on Asanga's Abhisamayalankara. Meanwhile, the Fourth Sharmapa was a primary disciple of the Seventh Karmapa and supervised Go Lotsawa Zhonupel (1392-1481), who authored The Blue Annals, a principal survey of Tibetan history.

These two sculptures were likely commissioned by a student of the Fourth Sharmapa either during the Sharmapa's lifetime or shortly thereafter. No other pieces from the same commission are known, which would otherwise indicate the pair are part of a larger lineage set. Further to the contrary, the artist has paired the two hierarchs with matching physiques, robes, and hand gestures (mudras).

Silver is a rarer commodity considered more precious than gold in Tibet. In sculpture, it is generally used sparingly as inlay, rather than a figure being cast outright from the costly metal. However, silver sculptures were produced for wealthy patrons who wanted to stress their reverence for the subject and enhance the merit generated by their commission with more costly materials. Pairing a silver figure with a gilt-bronze base was also popular, a practice that was adopted early in the Himalayas by the Khasa Mallas, who ruled the Karnali Basin of western Nepal and part of western Tibet between the 12th and 14th centuries. In fact, the plump petals on these two sculptures, embellished with tiny engraved markings, appear to take inspiration from Khasa Malla sculpture. See a bronze Hevajra and a silver lama above a gilt-bronze base in Alsop, "The Metal Sculpture of the Khasa Malla Kingdom", in Orientations: Art of Tibet, Hong Kong, 1998, p.165, fig.6 and von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures of the Alain Bordier Foundation, Hong Kong, 2010, pp.28-9, pl.11, respectively. Other examples of silver portraits on gilt-bronze lotus bases include a Padmasambhava in the Rubin Museum of Art (Collection Highlights, New York, 2014, pp.138-9), and a Sangye Chopa published in Grewenig & Rist (eds.), Buddha: 2000 Years of Buddhist Art,, Völklingen, 2016, p.456, no.201.

Published
David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, pp.180-1, pls.44&44a.
F. Ricca, Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell' Himalaya, Turin, 2004, figs.IV.57&58.

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.
Lama, Patron, Artist: The Great Situ Panchen, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 13 March – 18 July 2010.
Casting the Divine: Sculptures of the Nyingjei Lam Collection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2 March 2012 – 11 February 2013.

Provenance
The Collection of Mrs. James W. Alsdorf (Karmapa only)
Sotheby's, New York, 5 December 1992, lot 52 (Karmapa only)
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