Page 286 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Tantra Buddhost Art

3149

PROPERTY FROM A HAMPSTEAD COLLECTION

A GILT-BRONZE PORTRAIT OF 十六至十七世紀
A KARMA KAGYÜ HIERARCH 西藏鎏金銅噶瑪迦珠高僧坐像
TIBET, 16TH – 17TH CENTURY 喜瑪拉雅藝術資源網編號13450

the lama seated in vajraparyankasana atop an antelope skin 來源：
and large cushion, with downcast eyes and a meditative 倫敦佳士得1973年12月11日，編號36
expression, the right hand resting on the right knee and the
left hand holding a flaming jewel, wearing inner and outer
patchwork robes incised with geometric and foliate motifs

Himalayan Art Resources item no. 13450
19.8 cm, 7¾ in.

PROVENANCE
Christie’s London, 11th December 1973, lot 36.

HK$ 120,000-180,000
US$ 15,400-23,100

This majestic figure of an unknown lama, possibly a
hierarch from the Kagyü lineage, is a very fine example of
Tibetan portraiture. Historical figures depicted in bronze
can be identified through a dedicatory inscription; through
distinguishing physical characteristics commonly associated
with canonized figures; through their clothing or personal
attributes; through iconography including mudra, posture or
attribute; or, most often, through a combination of all of these.

The large cushion upon which the lama sits atop an antelope
skin indicates that the sculpture was made during his lifetime
or shortly after his death, as it was the convention to portray
living figures seated on a cushion rather than on a lotus
throne. The richly embellished hems of the outer robe on the
current work, heightened with geometric and foliate motif,
indicate an important ordained or monastic figure. Further,
the depiction atop a deer or antelope skin indicates the
mahasiddha appearance and the attainment of mahamudra.
The flaming jewel in the left hand provides an identifying
attribute, often associated with lamas in the Karma Kagyü
tradition. Further, Karma Kagyü lamas are frequently depicted
with a particular kind of foliate motif in the embellished hems
of their outer robes, such as in the present lot.

Compare the cushion on the present lot with a sixteenth
century bronze portrait depicting the Fifth Karmapa, Deshin
Shekpa, see Donald Dinwiddie, et al., Portraits of the Masters:
Bronze Sculptures of the Tibetan Buddhist Lineages, Chicago,
2003, pp. 166-9, cat. no. 31. Compare also a sixteenth century
bronze portrait of a Kagyü lama with rounded cushion atop an
antelope skin from the Carolyn and Wesley Halpert Collection,
see Himalayan Art Resources item no. 90810.

284 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比