Page 72 - Bonhams IMages of Devotion, Hong Kong Nov 30 2022

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A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF THE NINTH ABBOT OF DENSATIL,
DRAGPA SHERAB
TIBET, LATE 14TH/EARLY 15TH CENTURY
The back of the base with a Tibetan inscription, translated: ‘Dragpa Sherab’
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4711
23 cm (9 in.) high
HKD2,000,000 - 3,000,000

西藏 十四世紀末/十五世紀初 銅鎏金丹薩替第九任住持扎巴喜饒像

This impressive portrait image is identified as Dragpa Sherab (1310–70), the
Ninth abbot of Densatil, by an inscription located at the back of the lotus seat.
The Kagyu hierarch raises his right hand in the gesture of teaching (vitarka
mudra) while his left hand holds a pecha, or wood-bound sutra in his lap. Apart
from one other known portrait depicting the abbot from an early 15th-century
woodblock print (published after text no. 1359 of the Tucci Tibetan Collection of
the Instituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Orient (IsIAO), fol. 6b; Czaja, Medieval Rule in
Tibet, Vol. 2, 2014, pl. 29), this is the only known work depicting the Ninth abbot
of Densatil monastery which likely belonged to a set of lineage holders from the
Phagmodrupa Kagyu tradition.

Hailing from the same clan as Densatil’s founder, Dorje Gyalpo (1110-70), Dragpa
Sherab was the second brother to Changchub Gyaltsen (1302-64), who famously
defeated the Mongol-backed Sakyas and established the Phagmodrupa dynasty
as the new rulers of Tibet in 1354. Dragpa Sherab’s duties as abbot lasted from
1361 until his death in 1370, whereby his successor, Dragpa Changchub (1356-
86), erected Densatil’s fourth tashigomang (many doors of auspiciousness) to
elevate the consecrated remains of his predecessor inside a kadampa stupa.

Emphasizing Dragpa Sherab’s importance within the Phagmodrupa lineage,
the artist adorns the portraiture with a sumptuous patch-work robe, or kasaya,
finely etched with swastikas and floral roundels of which are cast to imitate the
stitching of cloth. His vest, visible behind his right shoulder, is dotted with sprays
of chrysanthemums with flaring leaves, recalling the luxurious designs and highly
coveted silk textiles made during the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties (see an
early Ming yellow silk panel of Shadakshari Avalokiteshvara with similarly rendered
flowers, to be offered at Bonhams, Hong Kong, Chinese Works of Art, November
30, lot 42, fig. 1). Rows of incised vine-scrolling flowers decorate the back of the
lotus base, delineating the narrow petals of the peonies and invoking the freedom
and fluidity of Yuan decorative motifs. Porcelain indicative of these blue and white
motifs from the Yuan dynasty, include a jar of freshwater fish and aquatic plants
from the ATAKA Collection in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka (accession
no. 00728), and another jar recounting the tale of Guiguzi, sold at Christie’s,
London, 12 July 2005, lot 88 (published in Watt & Hearn, The World of Khubilai
Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty, 2010, p. 280, fig. 314).

The wide lotus petals, which have been uniquely embellished with thick, tri-lobed
tips, are consistent with Densatil sculptures stylistically dated to the 14th and 15th
centuries. Close variants of this detail are shared by a panel of offering goddesses,
sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 23 March 1995, lot 46 and a figure of Vajravidarana
from the Claude de Marteau Collection, sold at Bonhams, Paris, 4 October 2022,
lot 11. Lastly, compare a portrait image from Densatil depicting the Sixth abbot of
Drigung monastery, sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 5 October 2020, lot 7, whose
outer and inner robe closely match in treatment and style to the present work.
Provenance
Private European collection, acquired in 2001

70 | BONHAMS