Page 48 - Bonhams IMages of Devotion, Hong Kong Nov 30 2022

Considered to be a material rarer and more precious than gold, silver was typically
used as an inlaid decoration for brass and copper alloy figures. In addition
of gilding to enliven his complexion, which is a rare decorative feature for the
medium, sculptures made entirely from silver were a reflection of a patron’s wealth
and eagerness to accrue merit by employing costlier materials. Further affirming
its importance as a high-quality commission is a casting weight that defies its
smaller scale as well as a finely rendered robe, incised with fine decorations and
spilling along the edges of the cushion. In both modelling and scale, the following
work draws similarities to a group of silver portraits of Kagyu hierarchs produced
between the 16th and 17th centuries. See four such images, including the Sixth
Karmapa, Thongwa Donden (mthong ba don ldan, 1416-1453), sold at Sotheby’s,
Hong Kong, 3 October 2018, lot 3692, the Eighth Karmapa, Mikyö Dorje (mi
bskyod rdo rje, 1507-1554), located in the Rubin Museum of Art, C.2019.2.1, the
Sixth Sharmapa, Chökyi Wangchuk (1584-1630), sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 15
March 2017, lot 221, and a Karmapa lineage holder (HAR 330343), implying an
aesthetic preference for silver in the Kagyu order.

In a recent article exploring the possible significance of the arrangement of the
togag, or the short-sleeved monastic vest worn by historical lamas (published in
Estournel, “About the Portraits of Tibetan Masters,” asianart.com, February, 2021),
Jean-Luc Estournel argues that images made in the lifetime of a lama were likely
depicted with the vest folded over onto the figure’s proper right side, whereas post
mortem images had the vest folded over onto the figure’s proper left instead, as
in the case of the following Sharmapa image. Lastly, see a pair of silver-gilt figures
of smaller size depicting the Seventh Karmapa, Chodrak Gyatso and the Fourth
Sharmapa, Chokyi Drakpa from the Nyingjei Lam Collection, sold at Bonhams,
New York, 23 September 2020, lot 626.

Published
David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer, The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist
Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, London, 1999, pl. 49.

Exhibited
Casting the Divine: Sculptures of the Nyingjei Lam Collection Rubin Museum of
Art, New York, 2 March 2012 – 11 February 2013
Eternal Transience, Enlightened Wisdom: Masterpieces of Buddhist Art, The
University of Hong Kong, 17 August 2022 – 16 October 2022

Provenance
The Nyingjei Lam Collection
On loan to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1996–2005
On loan to the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2005–2019 (L2005.9.68)

46 | BONHAMS