Footnotes

錯銀錯紅銅南卡堅贊銅像
西藏 十五/十六世紀

Tibetan inscription
རྩ་རླུང་དབང་འཏུས་ནམཁའ་རྒྱལ་མཚན་ཞབས་ལ་ན་མོ།

Transliteration
[1] rtsa rlung dbang '[d]us na(m m)kha' rgyal mtshan zhabs la na mo |
[ ] emendation
( ) ligature

Translation
[I pay] homage at the feet of Namkha Gyeltsen who brought under control the energetic channels.<sup>1

1</sup>Alternatively, the phrase 'mastery of the energetic channels' (rtsa rlung dbang 'dus) could be part of the name of this master. Unfortunately, I am unable to identify a Tsalung Wangdu Namkha Gyeltsen.

Himalayan Art Resources item no.16853
BDRC Resources ID P2786

The lama is seated in the 'full-lotus' posture above a cylindrical lotus base of crisp petals. He raises his hands before his chest in the gesture of 'progressing the Dharma'—below a debonair expression.

The name Namkha Gyeltsen is carried by many Buddhist lamas. One possible candidate is the First Lelung Jedrung, Drubchen Namkha Gyeltsen (1326-1401), who was a teacher of Tsongkhapa. Another is Jamyang Namkha Gyeltsen (1398-1472), who was a member of the Sakya order. However, this bronze so closely matches the scale and style of a portrait of the Shangpa Kagyu lama Bonton Kyergangpa Chokyi Sengge also in this sale that the two almost certainly belonged to the same initial lineage set, which we might infer represented a Shangpa Kagyu lineage. If so, this enigmatic bronze would most likely represent the 14th/15th-century Shangpa hierarch, Drubchen Namkha Gyaltsen (grub chen nam mkha' rgyal mtshan).

Provenance
Georgia Chrischilles, Brussels, 2008