Page 115 - Bonhams NYC Portraits of the Masters Bronzes march 2017
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3289 Although none of his original writings have survived, secondary sources
A LARGE GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE of the Sakya and Gelug suggest his main doctrinal concern was the
OF NGOK LODEN SHERAB concept of sunyata (ultimate truth), which he believed ineffable.
TIBET, LATE 16TH-17TH CENTURY
Inscription translated, ‘Homage to Loden Sherab’. The bronze’s lotus base and construction inform it is from the same
Himalayan Art Resources item no.2279 workshop as lot 90. A similar lotus base also appears around a
9 3/8 in. (23.8 cm) high gilt bronze figure of Songtsen Gampo in Beijing’s Capital Museum,
suggesting the same atelier as well (cf. Capital Museum, The Goddess
US$100,000 - 150,000 of Mercy in Buddhism, Beijing, 2008, pp.230-1, no.24).
西藏 十六世紀晚期至十七世紀 銅鎏金羅登謝洛像 Published
Portraits of the Masters, pp.304-7, no.83.
This large portrait honors the legendary Kadampa translator, Ngok Matthew Akester, Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo’s Guide to Central
Loden Sherab (1059-1109), one of Tibet’s first great scholars. His face Tibet, Chicago, 2016, p.228.
and hands are beautifully accomplished, while his finely incised robes
convey the weight and texture of the fabrics. Published & Exhibited
Monasterios y Lamas del Tibet, p.212, no.181.
He was born during the chidar, in the Guge Kingdom of Western Tibet,
where he first studied with his uncle, a disciple of the great Indian Provenance
master Atisha (982-1054). He then collected Buddhist texts in Kashmir, Sotheby’s, New York, 24 September 1997, lot 89
before settling at Kadam monastery upon his return.
PORTRAITS OF THE MASTERS: 108 BRONZE SCULPTURES OF THE TIBETAN BUDDHIST LINEAGES | 113
