Footnotes

銅鎏金一世夏瑪巴札巴僧格像
西藏 約十六世紀

Tibetan inscription
༄༅། །ཞརམར་ཅོད་པན་འཛིན་པ་ཐོག་མ་མཁས་གྲུབ་གྲགས་པ་སེང་གེ་ལ་ན་མོ།།

Transliteration
[1] § | | zh[wa] [d]mar cod pan 'dzin pa thog ma mkhas grub grags pa seng ge la na mo | |
[ ] emendation

Translation
Homage to the foremost holder of the Shamar ceremonial hat, the learned and accomplished Drakpa Sengge.

Himalayan Art Resources item no.16866
treasuryoflives.org biography no.9634
BDRC Resource ID P70

The First Shamarpa, Drakpa Sengge (1283-1349), lived to the relatively ripe old age of sixty-seven, but here he is depicted in his prime, serenely meditating. He wears a sleeveless vest patterned with geometric lattices that contrast the floral motifs of his meditation cloak. His back is pleasantly amplified by the cloak's slackened folds. On his head, he dons the red hat of the Shamarpa. The hat was a gift from his teacher, the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339), and complements the Karmapa's own black hat. The Karmapa and Shamarpa lineages constitute the dual branches of leadership within the Karma Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism. The Shamars are considered emanations of Buddha Amitabha and often had the responsibility of identifying the next incarnate Karmapa, educating him, and serving as regent until he came of age. Drakpa Sengge was renowned for having mastered the Prajnaparamita sutra and for his debating skills. He traveled throughout his life teaching at various monasteries.

Published
Deborah Ashencaen, Tibetan Art at Spink, London, 1992, no.26.

Provenance
Spink & Son Ltd, London, 1992