Page 12 - Himalayan Art Macrh 19 2018 Bonhams

3006
A SILVER AND COPPER INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF
TSANGNYON HERUKA
TIBET, 16TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61545
8 1/4 in. (21 cm) high

$60,000 - 80,000
西藏 十六世紀 錯銀錯紅銅藏紐赫魯嘎銅像

Within the nyonpa (“mad yogin”) tradition of the Drukpa Kagyu school, there are three
main representatives: Tsangnyon Heruka (1452-1507, “madman of Tsang”), Drukpa
Kunley (1455–1529, “madman of the dragon lineage”), and U-nyon Kunga Zangpo
(1458-1532, “madman of U”). Among these tantric yogis, Tsangnyon Heruka was the
most influential. Many sculptures by him, or dedicated to him, survive to the present
day. This sculpture is among the most charismatic of his portrait bronzes, reveling in his
eccentric lore by depicting him with a lazy eye of copper and silver inlay.

Tsangnyon Heruka’s iconography is fairly consistent and therefore easy to identify. He is
often represented with plaited long hair bound with a diadem, wide eyes, naked upper
torso, and rotund belly, holding a vajra in his right hand and a skull cup in his left.

Originally an ordained follower of the Kagyu tradition, Tsangnyon Heruka later abandoned
monasticism to pursue the tantric life. Inspired by early Indian texts and the mahasiddhas,
he inhabited burial grounds, and covered himself with human blood and ash. Despite
his unusual behavior, he attracted numerous disciples as he travelled through Tibet and
Nepal. One of Tibet’s most celebrated authors, Tsangnyon Heruka is among the first to
have his works printed with woodblocks, in turn funding and developing the technology
which would have a profound effect on Tibetan culture. His most famous writings
include the biography of the poet-saint Milarepa (1040-1123), and the popular Hundred
Thousand Songs of Milarepa. He also produced many instructional texts, particularly for
the Rechung Kagyu and Drukpa Kagyu transmissions.

Compare with another 16th-century bronze of Tsangnyon Heruka in the Tsang style, see
Dinwiddie (ed.), Portraits of the Masters, London, 2003, pp.154-5, no.25. The treatment
of his round eyes, thick brows, plaited locks, and the square inlay on the chest also
compares favorably with a bronze figure of Virupa in the Gordon collection, published in
von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, pp.482-3, no.135E.

Published
Cf. Ricca, F., Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei Demoni dell’Himalaya, Milan, 2004, pl. 34.

Provenance
Private Italian Collection, since late 1960s/early 1970s
Sotheby’s, New York, 5 December 1992, lot 239
Sotheby’s, New York, 24 March 2011, lot 62

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