Page 72 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Tantra Buddhost Art
P. 72
This delightful bronze, so elegantly executed, is 1372-1439). The commemorative portraiture, a lama identified by inscription as Senggé
a magnificent example of Tibetan portraiture, the presence of the incised root guru at heart Gyaltsen, published in Donald Dinwiddie, ed.,
one of many fine examples from the Nyingjei centre, the fine double inscriptions, and the Portraits of the Masters: Bronze Sculptures of
Lam Collection. Portraiture in Tibetan culture elaborate chasing of the bronze indicating the Tibetan Buddhist Lineages, Chicago, pp. 342-
often captures the unique and idiosyncratic richly embroidered silk robes all support the 346, pls 101 and 102, and sold at Bonhams New
countenance of a beloved teacher, as a method identification of this figure as a high lama. York, 14th March 2017, lots 3283 and 3284.
of tender devotion to their memory. In the
current work, one finds a deeply lifelike rendering Based on the date of Chöjé Jangchub Senggé’s All three figures wear a distinctive inner robe with
of the lama, including such personal features as death, the presumption that a portrait would a square flap with a medallion at their chest, of
his high cheekbones, receding hairline, and the have been executed by an artist who knew which Dinwiddie suggests an association with
mala or rosary worn around the left wrist. the deceased well enough to recreate his the Vinaya lineage introduced into Tibet by the
countenance, as well as the dedicatory Kashmiri master Shakyashribhadra. Further, all
From the inscription on the verso, the lama information gleaned from the inscription, three figures bear inscriptions in both the Lantsa
depicted is Chöjé Senggé. There are two the bronze can reasonably be dated to the and Tibetan scripts, and also wear similar robes
inscriptions on the verso of the bronze, the upper mid-fifteenth century. The presence of Chöjé wonderfully chased with foliate motifs and Lantsa
inscription in the Lantsa script. The lower Tibetan Senggé’s sumptuous robes also support this seed syllables. The hands of all three figures are
inscription reads: dating, as the representation of these kinds of precisely folded in dhyanamudra, and both the
Chinese-style embroidered textiles in bronzes current work and pl. 101 wear a mala or rosary
This deed was carried out to commemorate and thangkas became more prevalent during the on the left wrist. The current work and pl. 102
Chöjé Senggé’s passing. The statue was made by fifteenth century, reflecting Tibet’s deepening also have a similar receding hairline, which is also
Gyalgupa. relationship with the late Yuan and early Ming slightly visible under the cap of the figure in pl.
imperial courts. 101. The relationship between the three figures
It is possible that this refers to the thirteenth is powerfully compelling, and as all three figures
abbot of Katok Monastery in Eastern Tibet, the The current work bears striking similarity to two have “Senggé” in their names, it is possible that
Nyingma lama Chöjé Jangchub Senggé (ca. circa sixteenth century bronze figures depicting all three works depict the same glorious figure.
70 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比
