Page 48 - Christies Indian and Himalayan Art Sept 2015

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A GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF CHOGYAL PAGPA
TIBET, 15TH/16TH CENTURY

Seated on a double lotus base with beaded rims, his right
hand in bhumisparshamudra, wearing a patchwork robe
with incised borders, his face with smiling lips, a straight
nose and elongated eyes, fanked by prominent ears, his
hair closely cropped, the base with an incised inscription
6æ in. (17 cm.) high

$20,000-30,000

PROVENANCE:

Private collection, London, acquired by 2007

PUBLISHED:

Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.org),
item no. 23954

Chogyal Pagpa, the nephew of Sakya Pandita, helped to
establish Sakya as a center of scholarly activity in 13th
century Tibet. He sponsored the translation of poetry,

literature, and metrics, using the power of his position
to further his uncle’s scholarly and cultural projects.
Pagpa is credited with having developed the theory of

Buddhist rulership that delineated mutually dependent
spheres of secular and religious authority.

Compare with an earlier bronze fgure of Chogyal
Pagpa depicted in dharmachakramudra (D.
Dinwiddle, Portraits of the Masters: Bronze
Sculptures of the Tibetan Buddhist Lineage, 2003,
pp.246-247, fg.64).
Inscription on the verso of this image reads:
Homage to Chogyal Pagpa!

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