Footnotes

西藏 十四世紀末/十五世紀初 銅鎏金丹薩替第九任住持扎巴喜饒像

This impressive portrait image is identified as Dragpa Sherab (1310–70), the Ninth abbot of Densatil, by an inscription located at the back of the lotus seat. The Kagyu hierarch raises his right hand in the gesture of teaching (vitarka mudra) while his left hand holds a pecha, or wood-bound sutra in his lap. Apart from one other known portrait depicting the abbot from an early 15th-century woodblock print (published after text no. 1359 of the Tucci Tibetan Collection of the Instituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Orient (IsIAO), fol. 6b; Czaja, Medieval Rule in Tibet, Vol. 2, 2014, pl. 29), this is the only known work depicting the Ninth abbot of Densatil monastery which likely belonged to a set of lineage holders from the Phagmodrupa Kagyu tradition.

Hailing from the same clan as Densatil's founder, Dorje Gyalpo (1110-70), Dragpa Sherab was the second brother to Changchub Gyaltsen (1302-64), who famously defeated the Mongol-backed Sakyas and established the Phagmodrupa dynasty as the new rulers of Tibet in 1354. Dragpa Sherab's duties as abbot lasted from 1361 until his death in 1370, whereby his successor, Dragpa Changchub (1356-86), erected Densatil's fourth tashigomang (many doors of auspiciousness) to elevate the consecrated remains of his predecessor inside a kadampa stupa.

Emphasizing Dragpa Sherab's importance within the Phagmodrupa lineage, the artist adorns the portraiture with a sumptuous patch-work robe, or kasaya, finely etched with swastikas and floral roundels of which are cast to imitate the stitching of cloth. His vest, visible behind his right shoulder, is dotted with sprays of chrysanthemums with flaring leaves, recalling the luxurious designs and highly coveted silk textiles made during the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties (see an early Ming yellow silk panel of Shadakshari Avalokiteshvara with similarly rendered flowers, to be offered at Bonhams, Hong Kong, Chinese Works of Art, November 30, lot 42, fig. 1). Rows of incised vine-scrolling flowers decorate the back of the lotus base, delineating the narrow petals of the peonies and invoking the freedom and fluidity of Yuan decorative motifs. Porcelain indicative of these blue and white motifs from the Yuan dynasty, include a jar of freshwater fish and aquatic plants from the ATAKA Collection in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka (accession no. 00728), and another jar recounting the tale of Guiguzi, sold at Christie's, London, 12 July 2005, lot 88 (published in Watt & Hearn, The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty, 2010, p. 280, fig. 314).

The wide lotus petals, which have been uniquely embellished with thick, tri-lobed tips, are consistent with Densatil sculptures stylistically dated to the 14th and 15th centuries. Close variants of this detail are shared by a panel of offering goddesses, sold at Sotheby's, New York, 23 March 1995, lot 46 and a figure of Vajravidarana from the Claude de Marteau Collection, sold at Bonhams, Paris, 4 October 2022, lot 11. Lastly, compare a portrait image from Densatil depicting the Sixth abbot of Drigung monastery, sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, 5 October 2020, lot 7, whose outer and inner robe closely match in treatment and style to the present work.

Provenance:
Private European collection, acquired in 2001