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A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF KANHA A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF KUSHALIPA
CENTRAL TIBET, 16TH CENTURY TIBET, CIRCA 15TH CENTURY
Inscription translated, ‘I, Lhawang Lodro, take refuge in Kanha’. Inscription translated, ‘This [image of] the Kusali [Mendicant] of the
Himalayan Art Resources item no.2273 Second Victor over the total darkness of ignorance by means of the
7 7/8 in. (20 cm) high burning rays of a thousand paths of reasoning according to logical
consequences [prasanga], was made for the sake of Gyapon [“Chief
US$20,000 - 30,000 of a Hundred Families”] Jampel (Dare of ‘Cho ge’)’.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.2290
藏中 十六世紀 銅鎏金甘赫像 10 1/8 in. (25.6 cm) high

Originally a Hindu yogin, Kanha eventually played an important role in US$30,000 - 50,000
the transmission of the Lamdre teachings as its first pupil. After Virupa
(c.7th century) left Nalanda and lived as a wandering tantric yogin, 西藏 約十五世紀 銅鎏金古薩裡像
Kanha encountered the master and became his disciple. Having
received from Virupa the entire transmission of the “Path with the The Indian guru Kushalipa (Kusali) is associated with a number of
Result”, Kanha in turn taught it to his student Damarupa. tantric traditions. It is most likely that this figure would have originally
been part of a Sakya Chakrasamvara lineage set.
Published
Portraits of the Masters, pp.222-3, no.53. Published
Portraits of the Masters, pp.334-5, no.96.
Published & Exhibited
Monasterios y Lamas del Tibet, p.192, no.146. Published & Exhibited
Monasterios y Lamas del Tibet, p.203, no.167.

Provenance
Sotheby’s, New York, 4 June 1994, lot 239
Sotheby’s, New York, 24 September 1997, lot 255

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