Page 43 - 2020 Sept 22 Himalayin and Indian Works of Art Sotheby's NYC Asia Week

9/2/2020 Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Works of Art | Sotheby's

The inscription around the lower rim of the base identifies this portrait as Drokmi Lotsawa Shakya Yeshe (992/3–1043/72), an
eleventh century Buddhist master and translator. Drokmi Lotsawa was known for translating nearly seventy tantric texts from
Sanskrit, having studied intensively in India and Nepal. He was both a student and teacher of the Lamdre teachings, a Sakya
hallmark and specialization, of which the inscription of this portrait indicates.

The portrait is exquisitely cast rendering the features with hints of naturalism. The hands and feet have the quality of flesh in their
pliability and delicate gesturing. The robes curve around the body with weight and movement. Comparing it to another portrait of
a Lamdre Lineage master, Drakpa Gyaltsen, from the 15th Century, illustrated in A.M. and F. Rossi, Homage to the Holy: Portraits of
Tibet's Spiritual Teachers, exh. cat., London, November, 6-28, 2003, cat. 20, both portraits draw distinctions in texture between
the flesh and the garments. The lips in both portraits are not gilded, leaving the red copper of the cast exposed and producing a
more realistic tonal effect. The robes wrapping around the legs in undulating folds is similarly treated and both portraits show wide
incised hems with a like foliate motif.

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