Page 40 - Christies Indian and Himalayan Art Sept 2015
P. 40
83 PROVENANCE:
A GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF THE NINTH KARMAPA,
WANGCHUG DORJE Private collection, London, acquired in 2008
TIBET, 17TH CENTURY
EXHIBITED:
Finely cast and heavily gilt, the sage is seated in dhyanasana on
a thin cushion, his hands held over his knees in the double- Images of Faith, London, October 2008
gesture of bhumisparshamudra, wearing a fnely pleated cape over
voluminous robes, the borders incised with a foliate pattern, his PUBLISHED:
rounded face with a benign expression and shortly cropped hair
8√ in. (22.5 cm.) high Rossi and Rossi, Images of Faith, 2008
Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.org), item no. 23952
$60,000-80,000
Wangchug Dorje, the 9th Karmapa (1555-1603), was known as a
great Buddhist traveler, scholar and practitioner. Well educated and a
moderately prolifc writer, two of his most important compositions on the
mahamudra teachings were the Ocean of Certainty and Eliminating the
Darkness of Ignorance.
The inscription on the verso of this work reads: Homage to the second
buddha Wangchug Dorje!
