Page 86 - Sporer Collection of Himalayan bronzes

39
A COPPER-INLAID FIGURE OF TSANG NYON
HERUKA
TIBET, 16TH CENTURY

The bearded mystic seated in lalitasana on a deer
skin over a double-lotus base, with a vajra in his
right hand and a kapala in his left, wearing an
ornately incised garment adorned with a beaded
apron and jewelry, his braided chignon centered
by a foret
6√ in. (17.5 cm.) high

$25,000-35,000

PROVENANCE:

The Sporer Collection, New Jersey, acquired in
New York, 25 January 1985

PUBLISHED:

Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.org),
item no. 24052

The mystic, Tsang Nyon Heruka (1452-1507) was an
author and teacher famous for wearing “the Heruka
attire,” an anti-social manner of dressing described in
Chakrasamvara and Hevajra Tantric texts. He is also
known for writing and compiling the One Hundred
Thousand Songs of Milarepa along with numerous
biographies of early Kagyu teachers. In the 15th
century he set about to revive the old Marpa Kagyu
traditions of extensive retreats in isolated locations.
Compare with a similar 16th century work in the
John and Berthe Ford Collection (P. Pal, Desire
and Devotion: Art from Indian, Nepal and Tibet in
the John and Berthe Ford Collection, 2001, p.306,
fg.180).

84 THE SPORER COLLECTION OF HIMALAYAN SCULPTURE