Page 90 - Bonhams NYC Portraits of the Masters Bronzes march 2017

3268
A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF VANARATNA
TIBET, CIRCA 1468
Inscription translated, ‘One is freed of all prejudice if reality dawns, and so the master
known to be free of prejudice should be resorted to with devotion. As a memorial to the
mahapandita and a meditation object for Lochen, this was commissioned by the great
attendant Dripa Gelong and made by the artist Rokpa Tsapa Namka Gyaltzen. Virtue!’.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.2293
8 7/8 in. (22.7 cm) high

US$150,000 - 200,000

西藏 約1468年 銅鎏金伐那惹那像

While his historic identity remains veiled at present, the inscription provides a rare
instance of a Tibetan bronze naming its creator, Rokpa Tsapa Namka Gyaltzen.

No reference is made to its charismatic subject, but it can be inferred rather easily. From
its immediate likeness to a 15th-century portrait thangka of Vanaratna (1384-1468) within
the Kronos Collection, we can confidently assert the subjects are one and the same
(see Jackson, Mirror of the Buddha, New York, 2011, pp.96-7). Furthermore, its donor
is also listed in the inscription, Timkhang Lotsawa Sonam Gyatso (1424-82), who was
Vanaratna’s disciple and translator.

Hailing from present-day Bengal, Vanaratna was one of the last Indian pandits to visit
Tibet and teach to broad audiences. He was twice invited by the prince of Gyantse to
teach the Kalachakra tantra, of which he was a master, and his portrait was placed in the
topmost chapel of the great Kumbum stupa at Gyantse, Central Tibet. He also received
patronage from other provinces in Tibet, and traveled throughout Bhutan and Nepal.

Crucially, as Dinwiddie points out, Vanaratna’s existence proves the survival of Buddhist
communities in the 15th-century India, despite their decimation by Muslim invaders at the
turn of the 13th century (Portraits of the Masters, p.341).

As suggested by the inscription, this piece was not part of a set, but intended as a
singular memorial bronze, like the Konchog Yogten within the Portraits of the Masters
Collection (lot 3270). Seeming appropriate for personal worship, with his right hand
downturned, the master makes the gesture of awakening to enlightenment. Meanwhile
his handsome face, enhanced by pigments, has an alert, transfixed, but also attentive
expression.

Published
Portraits of the Masters, pp.340-1, no.99.
David P. Jackson, Mirror of the Buddha, New York, 2011, pp.96-7, figs.3.21A&B.

Published & Exhibited
Monasterios y Lamas del Tibet, p.208, no.176.

Provenance
Sotheby’s, New York, 16/17 September 1998, lot 133

88 | BONHAMS