Page 50 - 2020 September 23 Himalyan and Southeast Asian Works of Art Bonhams

623
A SILVER AND COPPER INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF DRAKPA GYALTSEN
TSANG, CENTRAL TIBET, 15TH CENTURY
With two Tibetan inscriptions: the first on top of the lotus base, translated: “Homage to the
scholar Drakpa Gyaltsen;” the second along the bottom rim of the base (translation below).
Himalayan Art Resources item no.68488
8 3/8 in. (21.4 cm) high

$80,000 - 120,000

藏中 十五世紀 錯銀錯紅銅札巴堅贊銅像

Created with a lustrous brassy alloy and embellished with delicate patterns, this sculpture of
Drakpa Gyaltsen (1147–1216) is among the finest portraits at this scale from the region of
Tsang in Central Tibet. It is accompanied by a beautifully composed inscription along its foot
rim, translated as follows:

“We constantly pay homage and pray to Drakpa Gyaltsen, whose learning in all classes of
tantras embraces all directions, and whose love sustains all living beings.”

Drakpa Gyaltsen, the ‘throne-holder’ of Sakya monastery for 43 years, was a revered teacher
and scholar of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was the son of its founder, Sachen
Kunga Nyingpo (1092–1158), who taught him from a young age. Instrumental to the lamdre
teaching’s preservation, Drakpa Gyaltsen converted them from an oral tradition to a written one,
recording his father’s commentaries, and extensively writing his own. The lamdre teachings
are a potent tantric practice at the doctrinal core of the Sakya with the potential to bring about
enlightenment in a single lifetime. Drakpa Gyaltsen had many prominent students, including the
famous Sakya Pandita (1182–1251), who is immortalized in a closely related bronze portrait
bronze in the Van Hoogstraten Collection (Pal, Tibet: Tradition and Change, Albuquerque, 1997,
pp.48-9, pl.24).

This portrait of Drakpa Gyaltsen has been cast and finished with consummate technical skill.
The monastic robes are confidently displayed with naturalistic folds and chased hems of
geometric and floral designs, suggestive of luxurious fabrics. The lozenges covering his chest
appear throughout a dispersed Sakya lineage set, of which 18 are at Ngor Monastery (von
Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol. II, Hong Kong, 2003, pp.1208-17, nos.331-
335E). The treatment of their lotus bases is also very similar, indicating the present bronze
is likely from the same workshop and period. Unlike the Ngor set, which portrays Drakpa
Gyeltsen at an old age (ibid., pp.1214-5, no.334C), here he appears to be in his prime with the
determined expression of a savant.

Published
David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the
Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, pl.39, pp.170-1.
F. Ricca, Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell’ Himalaya, Turin, 2004, fig.IV.46.

Exhibited
The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, Ashmolean
Museum, Oxford, 6 October – 30 December 1999.
Arte Buddhista Tibetana: Dei e Demoni dell’ Himalaya, Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin, June –
September 2004.
Stable as a Mountain: Gurus in Himalayan Art, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 13 March – 13
July 2009.
Casting the Divine: Sculptures of the Nyingjei Lam Collection, Rubin Museum of Art, New York,
2 March 2012 – 11 February 2013.

Provenance
The Nyingjei Lam Collection
On loan to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1996 – 2005
On loan to the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2005 – 2019

48 | BONHAMS