Page 12 - Bonhams NYC Portraits of the Masters Bronzes march 2017
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3203                                    Identified by the inscription, this handsome bronze depicts arhat
A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF GOPAKA    Gopaka in a voluminous robe with delicately patterned hems. An
TIBET, 18TH CENTURY                     archetypal ascetic, he has an emaciated face from his relentless
Inscription translated, ‘Arya Gopaka’.  atonement for past crimes. His name means “unpleasant sight”,
Himalayan Art Resources item no.2248    having contracted a ghastly illness in infancy, which was the result
6 1/4 in. (15.8 cm) high                of wrongdoing in a distant previous life. Covered in sores, his father
US$30,000 - 50,000                      brought him to see doctors in Sravasti, where young Gopaka
西藏 十八世紀 銅鎏金戒博迦像                         encountered the Buddha and began the search for enlightenment.

10 | BONHAMS                            Published
                                        Portraits of the Masters, pp.90-1, no.8.

                                        Published & Exhibited
                                        Monasterios y Lamas del Tibet, p.149, no.96.

                                        Provenance
                                        Christie’s, Amsterdam, 21 November 1990, lot 261
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