Page 62 - Bonhams IMages of Devotion, Hong Kong Nov 30 2022

1021
A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF TSONGKHAPA
TIBET, 16TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4728
21 cm (8 1/2 in.) high
HKD200,000 - 400,000
西藏 十六世紀 銅鎏金宗喀巴像

Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), founder of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, is
presented in full monastic garb and the tall conical pandita hat. His face, hands,
and feet are naturalistically modelled and his patchwork robes are chased with fine
floral designs and chevrons over his rotund frame.

Je Tsongkhapa enjoyed great popularity among Tibetans and is abundantly
portrayed in paintings and sculptures. As both a spiritual leader and highly
respected scholar, he is believed to have received instructions from various deities
in his visions, which he incorporated in his writings. He is often flanked by lotus
flowers supporting a sword and a sutra, attributes which are associated with the
Bodhisattva Manjushri, of whom Tsongkhapa is revered as his incarnation.

The stylistic elements are consistent with 15th-century castings from Central Tibet.
The lotus petals and the tall foot of the lotus base specifically reference a mode
coming from the atelier of Sonam Gyaltsen, which flourished in Tsang province
during the early-mid 15th century and share similarities to another lama portrait
(HAR 11028). Moreover, Tsongkhapa’s legacy, both historically and visually, was
established during the 15th century in central U-Tsang region, of which several
memorials depicting his likeness stand as testaments to his amassed following
and growing popularity of the Gelug order.

See a closely related example of Tsongkhapa without his pandita hat, published
in Spink and Son Ltd., Light of Compassion, Buddhist Art from Nepal and Tibet,
1997, pp. 24-5, fig. 12, and later sold at Christie’s, New York, 14 September
2010, lot 66.

Provenance
Private Hong Kong collection, acquired before 2000

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