Page 68 - Himalayan Art Macrh 19 2018 Bonhams

3031
A SILVER AND COPPER INLAID BRASS ALLOY FIGURE OF
DRAGPUGPA SONAMPEL
TIBET, 15TH/16TH CENTURY
The foot of the base with a Tibetan inscription, translated, ‘Homage to the master of the
Na bza’ cave.’
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61543
8 1/4 in. (21.3 cm) high

$40,000 - 60,000

西藏 十五/十六世紀 錯銀錯紅銅嘉普巴索郎培銅像

The inscription almost certainly identifies this charismatic lama as Dragpugpa Sonampel
(c. 1277-1350), a famed Sakya teacher known for prolonged, cave-dwelling, solitary
meditation. As the 17th lineage holder of the lamdre teachings, Sonampel received the
tantric cycle from Shangton Khonchog Pel (c.1250-1317) and transmitted it to Pelden
Tsultrim (1333-89), whose student Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo (1382-1456) founded Ngor
Monastery in 1429.

Sonampel’s face bears a gentle, puckered smile below the alert expression of his copper
and silver inlaid eyes. His wrinkled forehead betrays the wisdom of his years and gives
him a countenance that is at once friendly and approachable, and also suggestive of
being transfixed by his awakening to a blissful ulterior reality.

A highly respected educator, Sonampel did not have a particularly political monastic
career. Among his illustrious students were the 13th Sakya Tridzin (throne-holder) of
Sakya Monastery, who received high imperial recognition from the Yuan emperor Toghon
Temur (r.1333-70), and the 14th Sakya Tridzin, Lama Dampa Sonam Gyaltsen (1312-75),
considered to be one of the preeminent Sakya masters, who in turn taught the Tai Situ
Changchub Gyaltsen (1302-64) and Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419).

With the potential to grant enlightenment in a single lifetime, the lamdre is a core doctrine
of the Sakya order of Tibetan Buddhism. The present bronze is likely from a set of
sculptures depicting the doctrine’s successive masters, starting with its divine progenitor,
the Buddha Vajradhara, to his consort Vajra Nairatmya, and to Virupa (9th century), its
first mortal master, and onwards through successive pupils. Modeled in the Tsang style
of Central Tibet, his robe is almost entirely covered with finely incised floral and cloud
patterns that cleverly embellish the ungilded surface. Other examples in the same style
from similar sets in the Portraits of the Masters Collection were sold at Bonhams, New
York, 14 March 2017, lots 3270 & 3273.

Provenance
Collection of Michael Henss, Zurich, 1989
Private Swiss Collection

66 | BONHAMS