Page 82 - Bonhams NYC Portraits of the Masters Bronzes march 2017
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3263 This portrait of him is treated with consummate precision, confidently
A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF achieving the folds of his robe in a style informed by the early Ming
CHOGYAL PAKPA LODRO GYALTSEN imperial style (cf. a 15th century bronze of Buddha sold at Bonhams,
TIBET, EARLY 15TH CENTURY Hong Kong, 29 November 2016, lot 124). Meanwhile the lotus petals
Inscription translated, ‘Homage to Chogyal [Dharma King] Pakpa’. are broad, precise, and achieved in the round. Compare a closely
Himalayan Art Resources item no.2326 related figure of Sonam Senge formerly in the Halpert Collection,
6 1/8 in. (15.5 cm) high published in Rochell, Faces of Tibet, New York, 2003, no. 32. Also
see Christie’s, New York, 15 September 2015, lot 91 for another
US$30,000 - 50,000 inscribed figure.
西藏 十五世紀早期 秋吉八思巴洛卓嘉贊銅像 Published
Portraits of the Masters, pp.245-6, no.64.
Chogyal Pakpa Lodro Gyaltsen (1235-80) is one of the most
influential figures in Tibetan history, in part for what he chose not to Published & Exhibited
do. Installed as the first Imperial Preceptor of the Yuan dynasty by Monasterios y Lamas del Tibet, p.198, no.157.
Kublai Khan (1260-94), he declined an offer from the emperor to
establish his Sakya order as the sole arbiter of the Dharma in Tibet. Provenance
Pakpa’s response was that the diversity of schools was healthy for Christie’s, New York, 17 September 1997, lot 116
the dissemination of the Dharma. Occurring against a backdrop
of a century of power struggles and skirmishes with the Kagyu,
Pakpa’s extraordinary peaceful and restrained response had major
ramifications for the subsequent history of Tibet.
80 | BONHAMS
