Page 98 - Bonhams NYC Portraits of the Masters Bronzes march 2017

3273 Furthermore, there is a sense that the artist has reveled in the interplay
A SILVER INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF SANGGYE PEL of folds and exposed undersides as the robe’s tension slackens and
TSANG, CENTRAL TIBET, 15TH CENTURY drapes around the body.
Inscription translated, ‘Homage to the omniscient Sang gye Pel, lord
of the entire Doctrine. Good Fortune!’. The student of the second abbot of Ngor Monastery, Sanggye Pel
Himalayan Art Resources item no.2328 (1412-85) went on to found Dreyel Kyetsel Monastery, and teach
8 7/8 in. (22.5 cm) high some of Ngor’s most famous masters, including its sixth and eighth
abbots, Gorampa Sonam Sengge (1429-89) and Muchen Sanggye
US$100,000 - 150,000 Rinchen (1450-1524).

藏中 十五世紀 銅錯銀桑吉毗像 Published
Portraits of the Masters, pp.260-3, no.72.
The bronze is one of the finest known portraits in the Tsang style of Matthew Akester, Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo’s Guide to Central
Central Tibet, which favors non-gilt, brassy sculptures with incised Tibet, Chicago, 2016, p. 527
patterning. A masterwork, every inch of his patchwork robe is
beautifully chased with floral sprays. A finer detail distinguishing the Published & Exhibited
piece’s quality is the minute notched fringes, conveying a thickness Monasterios y Lamas del Tibet, p.197, no.155.
to the cloth. This combines with painstaking stippling to clarify the
patterns and distinguish sections of the garment. The overall effect
makes the complex ensemble effortlessly readable at a glance.
Contrast, for instance, with a closely related bronze of approaching
quality sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 24 March 2011, lot 67.

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