Footnotes

• 明十四/十五世紀 銅鎏金西藏丹薩替寺四供養天女雕刻飾板
  
  The spiritual teacher Pagmodrupa Dorje Gyalpo travelled to an area in Tibet near the Northern banks of the Tsangpo river, in the 12th century. Pupils gathered at his side to form a simple monastery originally of grass huts, but after his death in 1170 the monastic complex was enlarged and a temple built; this became known as the Densatil monastery, a centre for the Kagyu sect.
  
  From the mid 14th century, Densatil was ruled by the Phagmogrupa family, one of the most powerful ruling families of the time. The family sought to extend its influence with a series of high-level gift exchanges with the Chinese emperors, and eventually they came to rule almost all of Tibet. Their wealth and influence is attested by the astonishingly high quality of art produced under their patronage: the Densatil monastery became one of the richest in Tibet, and was renowned in particular for its metalwork and paintings by Newar artists from Nepal. Such pieces can be viewed as being as close to 'Imperial' commissions as was possible in Tibet at the time.
  
  The complex at Densatil was destroyed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, but evidence of its artistic importance and influence can be seen in the records of the Italian traveller Giuseppe Tucci following his visit in 1948, and in the black and white photographs taken by the Italian photographer Pietro Francesco Mele who accompanied Tucci on the 1948 expedition; see P.Mele, Tibet, Calcutta, 1975.
  
  Friezes such as the present lot would once have decorated the base of a stupa at Densatil, where eighteen large funerary reliquaries contained the mortal remains of the religious and political leaders of the Phagmogrupa. They can now be found scattered in museum collections around the globe, including the Musée Guimet and the Dallas Museum of Art. A similar frieze with four dancing maidens from the collection of Mr and Mrs John I.Eastman, was included in the exhibition and illustrated in the catalogue by M.Rhie and R.Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, New York, 2000, no.240.
  
  Compare another similar frieze sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 27 May 2012, lot 281.

Auction Notices

• Please note that there is a missing semi-circular piece (approx. 4cm diam.) from the rim above the far right dancer, with some further re-gilding to the rim.

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Category: Asian Art / Chinese Works of Art

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