Skip to main content
Bonhams
Previous Lot
Next Lot
A COPPER AND SILVER INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF CHOKYI PALSANG TIBET, 15TH/16TH CENTURY image 1
A COPPER AND SILVER INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF CHOKYI PALSANG TIBET, 15TH/16TH CENTURY image 2
A COPPER AND SILVER INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF CHOKYI PALSANG TIBET, 15TH/16TH CENTURY image 3
Thumbnail of A COPPER AND SILVER INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF CHOKYI PALSANG TIBET, 15TH/16TH CENTURY image 1
Thumbnail of A COPPER AND SILVER INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF CHOKYI PALSANG TIBET, 15TH/16TH CENTURY image 2
Thumbnail of A COPPER AND SILVER INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF CHOKYI PALSANG TIBET, 15TH/16TH CENTURY image 3
Lot 504
A COPPER AND SILVER INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF CHOKYI PALSANG
TIBET, 15TH/16TH CENTURY
Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art
21 March 2023, 18:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$24,225 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

A COPPER AND SILVER INLAID BRASS FIGURE OF CHOKYI PALSANG

TIBET, 15TH/16TH CENTURY
Inscribed at the back of the base: dga dbang chos kyi dpal bzang la na mo
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 90814
5 in. (12.8 cm) high

Footnotes

西藏 十五/十六世紀 錯銀錯紅銅確吉帕桑銅像

This sculpture is identified by an inscription at the back as Chokyi Palsang, a revered Tibetan translator of Indian Buddhist texts who was active during the Second Diffusion of the Faith around the 11th and 12th centuries (Chidar) (Roerich, The Blue Annals, from Gö Lotsawa, 1979, pp. 160–72; 706).

The glossy smooth skin of the figure suggests its constant handling and veneration over the centuries. Precious inlaid silver is used to highlight both his long white beard and his eyes while reddish copper is inlaid onto his monastic vest. These features are similarly shared with two other brass images with silver and copper inlays, one from the Bachmann and Eckenstein Collection (HAR 74939) and another from the John and Berthe Ford Collection in the Walters Art Museum, published in Pal, Desire and Devotion, 2001, p. 305, no. 179. Also compare his unusually long outer robe flowing over the lotus base to a portrait of Khetsun Zangpo Gyaltsen, published by Rossi & Rossi, Homage to the Holy, 2003, no. 41.

Published:
David Weldon & Jane Casey, Faces of Tibet: The Wesley and Carolyn Halpert Collection, Carlton Rochell Ltd., New York, no. 41.

Provenance:
The Wesley and Carolyn Halpert Collection
Sotheby's, New York, 24 March 2004, lot 73
The Rapoport Collection, New York

Additional information