Page 45 - 2020 December 2 Bonhams Arts of Devotion bronzes and Stone carvings

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A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF TENZIN RECHEN A ‘rechen’, or ‘repa’, is a class of ‘cotton-clad’ yogi from the Kagyu
TIBET, CIRCA 17TH CENTURY Order of Tibetan Buddhism. The figure’s topknot is a nod to this
With a Tibetan inscription along the base’s foot, translated ‘Homage to tradition, because, whereas lamas shaved their heads, rechens
the master Tenzin Rechen’ practiced in the wilderness with unkempt hair. This figure’s exact
Himalayan Art Resources item no.16896 historical identity is as-yet unknown, but he probably represents a
13.6 cm (5 3/8 in.) high Drugpa Kagyu yogi from Khyung, named Tenzin Repa, who lived in
the late 17th century and founded Shey Monastery in upper Dolpo,
HKD50,000 - 70,000 western Nepal (cf. Schaeffer, Himalayan Hermits, 2004, p.26, and
Schaeffer, ‘The Autobiography of a Medieval Tibetan Hermitess’, in
Women in Tibet, Gyatso & Havnevik (eds.). London, 2005, pp.83–109.)
西藏 約十七世紀 丹增仁欽銅像 His timeline would conform with the bronze’s stylistic affinity with
a standing figure of Gtsang pa Heruka attributed to the 17th/18th
century (Neven, New Studies into Indian and Himalayan Sculpture,
p.93, no.133).

Provenance
Private Pennsylvania Collection, 1993
Private Collection, Bloomington, Indiana

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