Page 22 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Tantra Buddhost Art

Glimpses of the Nyingjei Lam Collection
Jeff Watt,
Director, Himalayan Art Resources,
Founding Curator of the Rubin Museum of Art
Himalayan sculptural objects are open to a wide range of
approaches and interpretations. Everybody has their own
special or favourite approach. Often the objects are looked
at from the perspective of their region of origin, age, rarity or
aesthetic merits. That is an art history approach. Ascertaining
the general identity of a figure, religious tradition and monas-
tic establishment or temple is a religious studies approach.
A detailed analysis of the figure and close scrutiny of every
characteristic and attribute of a figure, especially deities,
belongs to the study of Buddhist iconography. These are the
three principal disciplines required for the study of Himalayan
art. There is however another very important aspect of the field
which has only become apparent in the past few decades and
that is viewing the collection and the collector together. This is
a late 20th century phenomena.
The modern collection can be either institutional such as with a
museum or university or it can be private, in a private museum
or in a collector’s home. This type of collection is often studied
as a whole, often judged, sometimes unfairly, as a single
collection with an emphasis placed on the weakest pieces
sometimes at the expense of the finer or more rare objects.
The collector plays a big role in the building of a collection
and projecting the identity and character of that collection,
purposefully, or randomly. Shaped by the objects themselves,
sculpture, painting, textiles, and the collector, of modest means
or wealthy, the collection takes form and often organically cre-
ates its own special identity, and niche identity within the field
of Himalayan art.
This group of Nyingjei Lam objects, a private collection built
up over several decades, can be divided into three general
subjects based on the identity of the figures: [1] buddhas and
one bodhisattva, [2] teachers and [3] deities. For the bud-
dhas and bodhisattva section there are four objects. Three are
classic buddhas in appearance and the fourth is a Lokeshvara
bodhisattva (lot 3103). There are six teachers which portray
historical figures. Lastly, there are seven deity figures of various represents Foundational Buddhism (Hinayana, Thervada).
types.
The terms used for the three general subjects are abstract in
meaning, buddha, bodhisattva, teacher, and deity. They refer
primarily to function or role from the point of view of religious
studies. In this case all the figures are Buddhist. These terms
are generally not helpful, and often confusing, in the study of
art history and in identifying the figures themselves.
20 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比
Himalayan figurative art has only eleven different types of form,
or appearance. The eleven different terms that are used are
borrowed partially from traditional religious studies terminol-
ogy and partially from those terms used by the actual artists
that create the works, and from artist culture, which is not
always the same as that which is studied in formal art history
programs. For example the Tibetan artist’s terminology to
describe the physical shape and appearance of a generic
religious teacher or monk is called a ‘bag of tsampa flour.’ This
description applies directly to the two monk figures Choje
Sengge Gyaltsen (lot 3110) and the unidentified Kagyu monk
(lot 3107). Their appearance with the heavily cloaked robes
is reminiscent of a bag of flour thrown onto a table or to the
ground. Although a very descriptive term for the artist, for
religious studies it is not a very respectful term.
The eleven categories are based on appearance, not function,
nor status or hierarchy. The first of the eleven are drawn from
the most common figurative forms found in Himalayan art: [1]
Buddha Appearance, [2] Arhat/Sthavira appearance, and [3]
King appearance. This grouping of three subjects are seen in
images and paintings of Shakyamuni Buddha, his two close
disciples, the Sixteen Great Elders (sthavira/lohan), two at-
tendants and the Four Direction Kings. All three buddhas in this
Nyingjei Lam group of seventeen objects depict the historical
Shakyamuni Buddha in his most famous appearance wear-
ing the very sparse robes of a monk, displaying a prominent
ushnisha (crown protuberance) on the crown of the head and
seated in vajra posture. The right arm and hand is extended
across the right knee. Sometimes a vajra scepter is placed in
front symbolizing the location of Vajrasana (lot 3114), modern
day Bodhgaya, the location where the Buddha achieved
enlightenment. In all there are twenty-five figures that make up
this early iconographic group known as Shakyamuni Buddha
and the Sixteen Great Elders. It is commonly found as a theme
for both sculpture and painting. Every monastery will have a
set of sculpture, paintings or murals for this subject which also
In the system of the eleven figurative forms, the next grouping
is that of people, historical figures often referred to as teach-
ers. There are three categories: [1] lay person, [2] monastic
and [3] siddha appearance. These three apply to both male
and female figures. In this collection there are six teachers, all
male, half are lay persons and half are monastic. The monastic