
Mark Rasmussen
International Director
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HK$120,000 - HK$160,000
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International Director
銅錯銀鎏金直貢噶舉初祖吉天頌恭仁欽貝像
西藏 十三/十四世紀
This silver-inlaid gilt bronze commemorates Jigten Sumgon Rinchen Pel (1143-1217), founder of the Drigung order of Tibetan Buddhism which dominated Tibet's political landscape in the 13th century. This characteristic portrait shows Rinchen Pel as a young man with an athletic build, a short crop of hair with a widow's peak, and an alert, magisterial gaze. Other common elements in his sculptural portraits include the vajra that is placed above the lotus throne, his right hand mimicking Buddha's bhumisparsha mudra, and a formfitting patchwork outer robe, all of which allude to Rinchen Pel's 'buddhahood'.
Stoddard has argued that bronzes such as the present lot might have been copies of a principal cult image of Rinchen Pel, created within his lifetime at Drigung monastery by a Chinese artist (Stoddard, "Bri Gung, Sa Skya and Mongol Patronage", in Dating Tibetan Art, Wiesbaden, 2003, p.66). Two large and exceptional examples are HAR no.57272 and a bronze sold at Bonhams, New York, 14 March 2017, lot 3236. Another of slightly smaller scale and in lesser condition compared to the present lot was sold at Bonhams, New York, 19 March 2018, lot 3001.
Provenance
Koller Auktionen, Zurich, 24 September 2005, lot 207
Private Collection, Switzerland, 2006