Footnotes

A SILVER INLAID GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF JNANATAPA
TIBET, 14TH CENTURY

西藏 十四世紀 銅錯銀鎏金迦那塔帕像

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

Jnanatapa ("Heat of Wisdom"), one of the great mahasiddhas (accomplished masters), is depicted here as the only known sculptural example of this subject. The lion-topped incised jewel box held in his left hand identifies his personage, though little of his mystical hagiography is recorded, unlike other depictions of the siddhas. Nevertheless, the folded legs of his yogic posture, rotund belly, intensely wide-eyed gaze, and long hair tightly pulled into a top-knot echo his Indian paragons of spiritually accomplished and eccentric trickster-saints.

There are only a handful of depictions of this subject. The most poignant example is a 14th century Taklung painting identifying the central figure by inscription as Jnanatapa, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1987.144). Onpo Kama Rinpoche (1251-96), a lama from the Taklung Kagyu tradition and the first abbot of the Riwoche monastery in Eastern Tibet, was recognized as the emanation of this mahasiddha, linking the founder of this lineage to a pure and authenticated Indian source. Spiritual legitimacy within Tibetan orders was predicated on an unbroken chain of Buddhist teachings linking these tantric Indian masters as emanations of divine Buddhas. Given the time frame of this bronze and the connection of this saint to the Taklung tradition, it is possible that this sculpture was also directly connected to Riwoche monastery.

The liveliness of the figure finds its aesthetic origins from the craftsmanship of Newari artists. The rounded figural form of the body and decorative beaded garlands, jewelry, and Pala-inspired flaming pendants, resemble coinciding Newari sculptures, including an image of the mahasiddha Virupa, sold at Bonhams, New York, 7 October 2019, lot 802. Newari artisans, whose metalworking traditions were widely-known and highly valued, saw a continuation of active sponsorship by Tibetans well into the 14th century.

The chased details under the beaded girdle and the densely packed lotus leaves along the front of the base suggest the artistic exchanges held between Tibet and the courts of the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). The decorative cadence of the floral and Buddhist emblems along the lower garment resemble the fluidity and scrollwork seen on Yuan textiles (see an example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988.296). Similar designs are also reproduced on several sculptures attributed to the Yuan dynasty (Bigler, Before Yongle, 2013, pp. 84-95, nos. 19-21). Lastly, compare the plump, scroll-tipped petals of a bronze from the Claude de Marteau Collection, Part 2, sold at Bonhams, Paris, 4 October 2022, lot 9.