Page 15 - Christie's Inidian and HImalayan Works of Art, March 2019

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A BRONZE FIGURE OF NAMPAR GYALWA
(TONPA SHENRAB)
CENTRAL TIBET, TSANG ATELIER, 16TH CENTURY
7º in. (18.4 cm.) high
$12,000-18,000

PROVENANCE
Sotheby’s New York, 21 September 1995, lot 161
The founder of the Bon tradition is depicted here as Nampar
Gyalwa or Completely Victorious, as described in chapter ffty of
the Ziji, the essential biography of Tonpa Shenrab. This style of
tightly-rendered lotus-petals with bead-like fourishes attributed to
an atelier in South-central Tibet (Tsang Province). The inscription
written in Tibetan Uchen script around the base of the sculpture
which reads: The present [image], beneveloent king Nampar Gyalwa,
on account of his kind fatherliness, composed the two teachings of
the long-life vase and feminine and masculine principles. May all
sentient beings be set upon the path to omniscience.
Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org), item no. 57073.

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