Page 74 - Bonhams NYC Portraits of the Masters Bronzes march 2017

3260 Certainly one of the most handsome portraits within the collection,
A SILVER INLAID BRASS ALLOY FIGURE OF SONAM TSEMO Sonam Tsemo (1142-82) was the son of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (lot
TIBET, 15TH/16TH CENTURY 3259) and the second of the five founding fathers of the Sakya order
Inscription translated, ‘May all be auspicious! Homage to venerable (Sakya Jetsun Gongma Nga). For a short while he was the Fourth
Tsemo’. Sakya Trizden (throne holder). Following his father’s death, Sonam’s
Himalayan Art Resources item no.2325 education at Kadam monasteries helped inform the monastic structure
6 1/2 in. (16.8 cm) high adopted by the Sakya school.

US$20,000 - 30,000 He is commonly depicted wearing the thick outer cloak of a laymen,
with bunching folds around his biceps as he raises his hands to
西藏 十五／十六世紀 銅錯銀索南澤莫像 forward the Dharma. The pronouncement of the double sleeve here is
of particular testament to the bronze’s quality. A related portrait with
this feature was sold at Sotheby’s, London, 9 April 1984, lot 206,
while a Sonam Tsemo lacking the definition of the double sleeve is
within a Sakya lineage sculptural set at Ngor Monastery published in
von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol.II, Hong Kong, 2003,
p.1213, no.333E. A closely related portrait of his father, likely from the
same workshop, is in the Museum Rietberg, published in Uhlig, On the
Path to Enlightenment, Zurich, 1995, p.191, no.134.

Published
Portraits of the Masters, pp.244-5, no.63.

Published & Exhibited
Monasterios y Lamas del Tibet, p.196, no.153.

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