An inscribed gilt-copper alloy figure of Chokyi Gyelpo, Tibet, 16th century

The inscription on the reverse indicated that this finely cast gilt portrait lama represents Chokyi Gyelpo (1335-1407), depicted seated on a double-lotus pedestal with elaborate floral-incised robes, the lotus stem on his left shoulder supporting an intricately cast image of Saraswati, goddess of learning and speech, playing the vina in front of a sutra.

Chokyi Gyelpo's biography is written up by Alexander Gardner, The Treasury of Lives, New York, 2010, BDRC P1485, where he expounds how Chokyi Gyelpo was born into the clan that had controlled Drikung Kagyu since its foundation, and his uncle was Chunyipa Dorje Rinchen, the 9th abbot of Drikung Thil monastery. At the age of 11, he studied at Takpu Chode, a Kadam monastery that had been founded by Rinchen Nyingpo, a student of Atisha, and received teachings on Hevajra there. On the death of his uncle he was made abbott of Drikung Thil in 1350 or 1351, where he served until 1395. Among his disciples was Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), the founder of the Gelugpa school, who traveled to Drikung Thil at the age of 16 to receive teachings from him on several topics including the Mahamudra and the Six Dharmas of Naropa.