Page 39 - Christies Indian and Himalayan Art Sept 2015

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A GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF SAKYA PANDITA
TIBET, 15TH CENTURY

Seated in dhyanasana over a double-
lotus base with beaded rims, his hands in
dharmachakramudra and holding lotus stems
supporting a sword and a manuscript inlaid
with lapis lazuli, wearing a patchwork robe
with an incised border, over a patterned vest, his
meditative expression with slightly parted lips,
straight nose, and elongated eyes with arched
eyebrows, surmounted by a close-ftting cap
with long lappets
9º in. (23.5 cm.) high

$20,000-30,000

PROVENANCE:

Private collection, London, acquired in 2007

EXHIBITED:

Homage to the Holy – Portraits of Tibet’s
Spiritual Teachers, London, November
2003

PUBLISHED:

Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.
org), item no. 23953
Rossi and Rossi, Homage to the Holy –
Portraits of Tibet’s Spiritual Teachers, 2003,
fg. 22

Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen (1182-1251)
is counted as the fourth of the Five Patriarchs
of the Sakya order of Tibetan Buddhism. Also
known as Sa-pan, he was the principal disciple of his
uncle, the great Buddhist master Drakpa Gyaltsen.
Sa-pan took full ordination with Shakya Shri Bhadra
in 1208, who trained him in the complete monastic
education of the great Indian monasteries of the
period. Based on this education, Sa-pan was
instrumental in transmitting the Indian
system of ten major and ten minor
sciences to Tibet. In 1247, he was
ordained as regent of Tibet by the
dominant Mongol chieftains.

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