Footnotes

A GILT COPPER ALLOY TRIAD OF PADMASAMBHAVA AND HIS CONSORTS, MANDARAVA AND YESHE TSOGYAL
TIBET, CIRCA 17TH CENTURY

西藏 約十七世紀 銅鎏金蓮花生大士與曼達拉娃及益西措嘉像

Provenance:
With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s

One of the finest known examples of this rare, complete subject, the present gilt bronze triad depicts Padmasambhava—the 'Lotus Born'—according to his creation myth, joined by his two wives. Padmasambhava is credited with introducing Buddhism in Tibet in the 8th century. He is also the root guru of the Nyingma order, who regard him as a 'Second Buddha' and maintain he planted treasure teachings (terma) throughout the Himalayas to be discovered when the world is ready.

According to traditional biographies, Padmasambhava was miraculously born in the center of a lotus blossom on Lake Danakosha in Oddiyana, which this sculpture commemorates. In delightful detail, two fish, a duck, a goose, an auspicious conch, and a mythical crocodile (makara) populate the lake's swirling vegetal waters envisioned by the ensemble's base. Padmasambhava is joined by his two consorts and close disciples, each smaller and seated on a lotus flower stemming from the same central stalk. His first consort, Mandarava (viewer's left), was a princess from Himachal Pradesh in Northwestern India and is therefore depicted wearing Indianized dress consisting of a pleated sari, large plug earrings, and jewelry with triangular foliate designs. She raises her hands in the age-old gesture of entreaty (anjali mudra), and the branching lotus stem below her also blooms a blue lily. His second consort, Yeshe Tsogyal (viewer's right), hailed from an aristocratic family in Central Tibet, and is therefore dressed in a heavy royal Tibetan cloak and wears floral-medallion earrings with small piercings. She wields the scented skull cup, a vajrayana implement, while displaying the gesture of teaching (vitarka mudra) with her other hand. Below, her stem also sprouts a white lotus bud. Tsogyal, whose name means "Victor of the Lake", is considered the first Tibetan to have achieved Buddhahood in a single lifetime. The present ensemble ranks highly among a range of other examples depicting this subject listed as HAR set no. 5068.

Exquisitely cast, thickly gilded, and featuring a particular style of long, plump lotus petals with frilled tips, this sculpture joins a growing body of sculptures being attributed to Tashi Lhunpo monastery in Shigatse, Central Tibet (for further discussion, see Luo, "Tashi Lhunpo Statuary: Karma and Mt Meru", in Bonhams, Hong Kong, 26 November 2019). Tashi Lhunpo is the traditional monastic seat of the Panchen Lama, the Gelug order's second-in-command, and maintained a particularly close relationship with the Qing court during the reign of the Kangxi emperor (1662-1722). A related bronze of Panjaranatha Mahakala was sold at Bonhams, New York, 19 March 2019, lot 928.